Join the City of Rockville for its 80th annual Memorial Day Ceremony and Parade Monday, May 27. Founded in 1944 by William (Bill) Wood, the Memorial Day Ceremony and Parade is a long-standing tradition in the City of Rockville.
PARADE PARKING
On Monday, May 27, free parking is available at the Rockville Metro lots, City Hall lots and jury lot at Route 28 and Monroe Street. Paid parking is available in the Rockville Town Square garage located off Route 355 or North Washington Street. Cash and credit are accepted. Accessible parking is available in the Rockville Town Center garage.
9 a.m. • ROCKVILLE CONCERT BAND AND CHORUS
The City of Rockville-supported volunteer band and the Rockville Community Chorus will perform a musical tribute to America.
9:30 a.m. • MEMORIAL DAY CEREMONY
The ceremony, in the plaza at Rockville Town Square, includes music by the Rockville Concert Band and the Rockville Chorus; a traditional wreath laying, led by American Legion Post 86; and the presentation of colors by the Rockville City Police Department Honor Guard. Rockville will offer sign language interpreters for the ceremony and parade.
10:30 a.m. • 80th MEMORIAL DAY PARADE
After the ceremony, the parade proceeds from Martins Lane and North Washington Street through Rockville Town Center (see map at right). The parade has something for everyone, with drill teams, marching bands, multicultural community groups, military units and more.
STEPHEN P. JOHNSON, GRAND MARSHAL
Stephen P. Johnson is a historian at the Department of Defense’s POW/MIA Accounting Agency, working to provide the fullest possible records and accounting of missing personnel to their families and the nation. He has been a civilian employee of the Department of Defense since 2010.
From 2009 to 2015, he worked in various positions at the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office. He volunteered for the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy’s Personnel Accounting Consolidation Taskforce in 2014. He holds a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in history from the University of Washington, a Master of Arts in history and a doctorate in U.S. political and cultural history from the University of Maryland, College Park, specializing in constitutional law and political conflict, with a minor specialization in European military history of the 1500s-2000s.
Johnson was an enlisted member of the Air Force from 1977 to 1984, reaching the rank of staff sergeant. He was stationed in South Dakota and the United Kingdom, and served as a security specialist, primarily working on the flightline, guarding aircraft.