San Rafael, CA – An annual tradition of honoring those who gave their lives while on active military duty continues on Memorial Day in San Rafael.
This year's Memorial Day ceremony will be an outdoors-only event in front of the memorials on Avenue of the Flags in San Rafael.The event, presented Monday, May 30, by the Marin County United Veterans Council and supported by the Marin County Board of Supervisors, honors all American servicemen and servicewomen in the line of duty with a special emphasis on Marin’s own heroes. Names of local military members who gave their lives on duty are etched into the statues along Avenue of the Flags on the Marin County Civic Center campus. All who wish to observe are welcome to attend.
The Avenue of the Flags ceremony will be hosted by U.S. Army veteran Glenn Ross, President of the United Veterans Council who served during the Persian Gulf War. The event will feature a decorated local combat veteran as a guest speaker (who prefers to remain anonymous prior to the event), patriotic songs played by the Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District Non-Marching Band, and the singing voice of Alicia Elkins. The Veterans Council will have color guard and flag raisers, and local elected officials and veterans group representatives will be recognized. After ceremonial wreaths are laid at the foot of statues, “Taps” will be played to conclude the ceremony.
Coffee and doughnuts will be served at 9 a.m. and the ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m. in front of the military monuments on Avenue of the Flags, adjacent to the Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium parking lot. There will be first-come-first-served seating on folding chairs.
The Memorial Day ceremony will be an outdoors-only event for the third consecutive year. The continued open-air format is an acknowledgment of the current rise in COVID-19 cases and that most prior event attendees have been seniors, a group more at risk of coronavirus infection.
Marin County has approximately 11,000 military veterans, with service records ranging from World War II to the current conflicts around the globe. Learn more about Marin County’s Veterans Services online. The office, located at 10 North San Pedro Road in San Rafael, is led by Sean Stephens, a U.S. Army veteran who served four combat tours in Afghanistan after joining the Army at the oldest age possible, 38. The Veterans Services Office is overseen by the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services.