10 MD Fallen Service Members Honored At Memorial Day 2025 Event

TIMONIUM, MD — The 58th annual Memorial Day ceremony at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens in Timonium will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, May 26. The ceremony will honor service members with ties to Maryland who were lost within the last year, and pay tribute to all members of the armed forces who died in combat.

The observance, which is open to the public, will take place at the Circle of the Immortals monument on the grounds of the cemetery, 200 E. Padonia Road in Timonium.

The ceremony will also be livestreamed on Facebook Live on the Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens page.

Those who will be honored are:

• Petty Officer Second Class Jack M. Brown, U.S. Navy, of Crofton; died May 22, 2024.
• Lieutenant Colonel Mickey M. West, Jr., U.S. Army, of Aberdeen; died June 4, 2024.
• Private First Class Charles M. Hyman, U.S. Army, of Baltimore; died June 8, 2024.
• Staff Sergeant Sean A. Lange, U.S. Army, of New Market; died August 25, 2024.
• Master Sergeant Justin S. Keirn, U.S. Air Force, of Bel Air; died October 16, 2024.
• Senior Airman Gregory K. Riley, Jr., U.S. Air Force, of Aberdeen; died November 17, 2024.
• Specialist William T. Brown III, U.S. Army, of Baltimore; died December 17, 2024.
• Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew L. Eaves, U.S. Army, of Great Mills; died January 29, 2025.
• Specialist Jacob W. Mullen, U.S. Army, of Fruitland; died January 30, 2025.
• Staff Sergeant Jared A. Finnerty, U.S. Army, of Pasadena; died February 16, 2025.

The event organizers said the 2026 Memorial Day ceremony will honor: Private First Class Davon T. Moore, U.S. Army, of Owings Mills, who died on April 4, 2025; Specialist Stephen Y. Akinlotan, U.S. Army, who died March 10, 2025; and Petty Officer First Class Dakota B. Collison, U.S. Navy, who died April 9, 2025.

Delivering memorial addresses will be:

Congressman John A. Olszewski Jr.: A life-long Marylander, Congressman Olszewski serves as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 2nd congressional district.

Major General Janeen L. Birckhead, Adjutant General of the Maryland National Guard. Gen. Birckhead serves as an advisor to the governor of Maryland and is responsible for leading a force of over 6,300 soldiers, airmen, and federal and state employees. She most recently served as the commander of the Maryland Army National Guard and as the deputy commandant for Reserve Affairs at the U.S. Army War College.

U.S. Navy Commander (Ret.) Frank T. Goertner, director for Federal and Veteran Affairs at University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. Frank Goertner is a veteran naval aviator, foreign area officer, personnel chief and maritime strategist.

U.S. Navy Commander (Ret.) Frank T. Goertner, director for Federal and Veteran Affairs at University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

The ceremony will honor the Warrior Music Foundation, an organization that works to serve “active duty military, veterans and their families by providing a venue for learning, healing and camaraderie using music.” The foundation offers free music therapy and music lessons.

The Memorial Day observance will include a wreath placement, tributes to those lost, "Taps" and a 21-gun salute. The United States flag will be flown at half-staff from sunrise until noon, per Memorial Day protocol.

A Maryland Army National Guard UH-72 Lakota helicopter assigned to the 29th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade will be on site for the ceremony.

Participants include:

• Color Guard Units: Marines 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, Patriot Guard Riders Flag Line, Knights of Columbus, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps/ Fort McHenry Division, Nam Knights of America MC/ Fort McHenry Chapter.
• 229th Army Band, Maryland Army National Guard.
• Captain Edward Fielding, chaplain.
• Maryland National Guard Honor Guard Firing Party and Color Guard.
• U.S. Naval Sea Cadets to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
• Piper Robert McCurdy.
• Dundalk Sweet Adelines will perform a patriotic medley.

The bell that is housed on Maryland's 9/11 Rolling Memorial will toll to honor members of the military who have been lost in service to our country.

History of Memorial Day at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens: This year marks the 58th anniversary of the Memorial Day ceremony held in Dulaney Valley’s Circle of Immortals, an area dedicated in 1967 and reserved for Marylanders killed in action. Twenty-six service members who died in Vietnam are buried within the Circle.

The area is also home to the official Baltimore County World War II/Korean War Memorial, dedicated in 1998; and The Children of Liberty Memorial, which was added to the Circle in 1990 and is dedicated to Maryland service members who died at the hands of terrorists. It includes a plaque dedicated to the seven Maryland service members who lost their lives in the 1991 Liberation of Kuwait, the names of the three Maryland service members killed in 2000 aboard the USS Cole and the names of the service members killed in the September 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon.