20th Annual Memorial Day Ceremony to be held

Great Falls Pipe Band member Jesse Callender performs the “Bagpipe Salute” during the Memorial Day Ceremony conducted at the Montana Veterans Memorial on May 27, 2024. Photo credit Montana Veterans Memorial Association Secretary Eric Peterson. The Montana Veterans Memorial Association announced the activities scheduled for the Memorial Day Ceremony, will begin at 2 pm on Monday, May 26, 2025. KRTV / KTGF Executive Producer Thomas Wylie will serve as master of ceremonies for the 20th annual Memorial Day Ceremony conducted by the MVMA for the Great Falls community. MVMA President Starnell Darko is proud of the many years of work that association volunteers have accomplished to help create one of the premiere veteran memorials in the state. “Since its beginning, more than 8,000 tiles have been placed on the walls of this memorial,” Darko said. “Now, twenty years later, we continue to honor our veterans by installing an additional 106 granite tiles.” Uniformed members of the United States Air Force will participate in the ceremony. Lt. Col. “Frankie” Mercado will serve as the keynote speaker. Mercado is the 490th Missile Squadron commander at Malmstrom Air Force Base. In addition, the Base Honor Guard will present the colors, and United States Air Force Chaplain (1st Lt.) Sean Barley will provide the invocation. Members of the Boy Scouts of America will be leading the participants and audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.Music will play a large role in the ceremony. The Sound of the Falls Chorus will be singing three songs during the event: “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “America the Beautiful,” and “Sentimental Journey.” Jesse Callender of the Great Falls Pipe Band will perform the “Bagpipe Salute.” To close the ceremony, Kurt Mueller, a member of the Great Falls Municipal Band, will sound Taps on a trumpet. United States Army veteran and Black feet Community College Professor Marvin Weatherwax, Sr. will introduce the Black feet Veterans Honor Guard to provide Black feet Nation Warrior Honors during theceremony. Wes Gibbs will discuss his book, “A Soldier’s Journey,” the story of his father’s World War II service in the South Pacific. His father, 99-year-old United States Army veteran Durl Gibbs, will also attend the event. Memorial Day is a federal holiday on which citizens honor the service of United States military personnel who have died while serving their country. United States Army veteran and Blackfeet Community College Professor Marvin Weatherwax, Sr. discussed his military experience during the Memorial Day Ceremony conducted at the Montana Veterans Memorial on May 27, 2024. Photo credit Montana Veterans Memorial Association Secretary Eric Peterson.