Body of News Release
Marin County, CA – Marin County native John Meholick, a 20-year U.S. Army veteran who has overseen ceremonies at hundreds of military funerals, including at Arlington National Cemetery, will serve as the keynote speaker for Marin County’s annual Memorial Day ceremony on Monday, May 25, inside Exhibit Hall at the Marin County Fairgrounds in San Rafael.
Meholick (carrying sword at front left in photo) will be the featured guest at Marin’s annual tradition of honoring service members who lost their lives in conflicts. It is hosted and led by the Marin County United Veterans Council, which represents local veterans organizations and military family support groups. The doors open for the indoor event at “zero nine hundred” (9 AM).
Memorial Day is always celebrated on the last Monday of May. It is observed as a federal closed-door holiday by the County of Marin, other government offices, and many businesses.
Meholick, an active-duty master sergeant, was raised in San Anselmo and attended Wade Thomas Elementary, White Hill Middle School, and the high school then known as Sir Francis Drake High. Inspired by the camaraderie and grit depicted among the soldiers in the miniseries “Band of Brothers,” he began his military career in February 2006 at Fort Benning, Georgia. He has held leadership roles across infantry, cavalry, ceremonial, and institutional training units, as well as Army headquarters staff and Department of Defense joint agency assignments. In addition to combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, Meholick has served internationally at bases in South Korea and Germany and stateside at forts Benning and Stewart (Georgia), Fort Hood (Texas), Fort Carson (Colorado), and at the Pentagon.
Meholick, now living with his family in suburban Washington D.C., serves as the Senior Enlisted Leader for the Europe-Mediterranean Directorate at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), supporting recovery and investigation operations across Western Europe. He is in his final year of military service and will retire after 21 years of active duty this December with plans to return to the Bay Area with his family.
The Memorial Day event starts at 9:30 AM with 30 minutes of traditional patriotic and military music from the Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District Non-Marching Band – fondly known in Marin as the Sewer Band. In addition to Meholick’s presentation, the ceremony will feature the singing voices of Marin Golden Gate Barbershop Chorus, presentation of colors by the members of local service organizations, a bagpiper, a chaplain’s invocation and benediction, placement of ceremonial wreaths, and recognition of local elected officials and veterans group representatives.
Afterward, guests can enjoy complimentary coffee and doughnuts and visit information tables from veterans' organizations plus an outdoor display of vintage military vehicles from the Garbarino family collection.
Marin County has lost hundreds of service members during international conflicts around the globe. Names of local military members who gave their lives on duty are etched into the statues along Avenue of the Flags at the Marin Civic Center complex.
Sean Stephens, the event’s master of ceremonies, is president of the Marin County United Veterans Council. He leads the Marin County Veterans Services Office, a division of the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). A U.S. Army combat veteran, Stephens works with his staff to assist military vets and family members who need assistance in collecting benefits they’ve earned. Vets can get connected to mental health services, medical services, court-related services, social services, tuition aid at local colleges, pensions, military discounts, and death benefits for spouses of those who have served.
The Marin HHS Veterans Services is at 10 North San Pedro Road in San Rafael, along with the VA Vet Center on site to provide timely assistance to an estimated 8,000 veterans living in the county. Contact the office Mondays through Thursdays by calling 415-473-6193 or visit the website.
Photo provided by John Meholick