Area residents are invited to honor those men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country at the 16th Annual Memorial Day Ceremony, to be held Monday, May 28, at 10 a.m. The ceremony will take place at the Wicomico War Veterans’ Memorial in front of the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center. All are welcome and encouraged to attend this free event, which is organized by members of the Wicomico County War Memorial Committee. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be moved inside to the Civic Center’s Midway Room.
As part of the ceremony, there will be a lowering of the colors by the Wicomico County JROTC, ringing of the Red Knights Memorial Bell, branch prayers, and a volley of arms by the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office. Veterans, as well as their families, will be recognized during the ceremony, including a special family tribute to Gold Star Mothers. War Memorial Committee members will perform the Reading of Veterans Names, which recognizes those Wicomico County residents who have fallen in the line of service.
In 2002, a group of veterans from all branches of the military came together to honor and preserve the memory of Wicomico County’s fallen heroes. As a result, the Wicomico County War Veterans’ Memorial was erected at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center, which is itself a living war memorial to all veterans. Flags from each service branch, along with a United States, Maryland, Wicomico County and the POW-MIA flag, now proudly fly over a brick wall displaying bronze plaques with the names of Wicomico County’s fallen veterans beginning with World War I.
The Wicomico County War Memorial Committee has continued the work it began in 2002. Committee members are actively seeking information on those listed on the memorial. If you have information to share about a fallen serviceperson, please email Janice von Paris at jvparis@wicomicocounty.org. To help preserve the memorial and honor a loved one who has or is serving, citizens may purchase a Tree of Honor Gold Leaf. Engraved with his or her name and a short message, the leaf will be displayed on the Veterans’ Tree of Honor in the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center lobby. Leaves are $100 each. To purchase a leaf, please contact Janice von Paris at 410-548-4900, ext. 115. All proceeds are placed in a fund designated to maintain the War Memorial into perpetuity.
The Run to Remember Memorial Day 5K will be held the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, May 26. The run benefits the Wicomico War Veterans’ Memorial. Learn more here.
