6 Maryland Soldiers To Be Honored At Memorial Day Ceremony 2018

LUTHERVILLE-TIMONIUM, MD — Six military members in Maryland will be honored during the annual Memorial Day Ceremony at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. The service members who made the supreme sacrifice all died in the past 14 months, organizers say.

This is the annual ceremony will include participation from those across the state who want to pay tribute to those who lost their lives serving our country. A 21-gun salute, keynote address, piper, service dog and other highlights are built into the program.

The former owners of Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens began the annual ceremony because they thought that the public was losing sight of the meaning of Memorial Day. The new owners, who purchased the cemetery in 2007, have continued the tradition, and this marks the 51st annual event.

The Memorial Day Ceremony at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens is free and open to the public. It will be at Dulaney Valley’s Circle of the Immortals at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 28.

These individuals will be honored at the 2018 ceremony:

• Staff Sgt. Mark R. De Alencar, U.S. Army, 37, of Edgewood, Maryland, died April 8, 2017, serving during Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan.
• Sgt. Eric M. Houck, U.S. Army, age 25, of Perry Hall, Maryland, died June 10, 2017, serving during Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan.
• Petty Officer First Class Xavier A. Martin, U.S. Navy, age 24, of Halethorpe, Maryland, died June 17, 2017, serving aboard the USS Fitzgerald.
• Petty Officer First Class Kevin S. Bushell, U.S. Navy, age 26, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, died Aug. 21, 2017, serving aboard the USS John S. McCain.
• Petty Officer Second Class Timothy T. Eckels Jr., U.S. Navy, age 23, of Manchester, Maryland, died Aug. 21, 2017, serving aboard the USS John S. McCain.
• Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson, U.S. Army, age 39, of New Bern, NC, died October 4, 2017, while on reconnaissance patrol in southwest Niger, Africa. Among his duty assignments was Charlie Company, 22nd Chemical Battalion, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

The bell inside the 9/11 Rolling Memorial will toll to honor each military member who died in the past year. The memorial was designed as a tribute to the 69 Marylanders who died on Sept. 11, 2001.

Alan Walden of the American Flag Foundation will emcee the event.

The keynote speaker at the Memorial Day ceremony will be Chaplain Col. William Sean Lee, Joint Force Headquarters Chaplain, Maryland National Guard.

Participating in the pageantry will be the Maryland National Guard, Patriot Guard Riders, Knights of Columbus, Elkridge Young Marines and Boy Scout Troop #340, the 229th Maryland Army National Guard Band, among others.

The Memorial Day ceremony will be at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 28, at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens, Circle of the Immortals, 200 East Padonia Road, Timonium, MD 21093.

Photo of Circle of the Immortals courtesy of Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens.