MARTINEZ, Calif. – In keeping with the city’s longtime custom, Martinez will have a two-part Memorial Day ceremony Monday, May 28, to acknowledge the sacrifice of those who have died in military service.
Ceremonies begin at 9 a.m. that day at the Alhambra Cemetery, on Carquinez Drive, with a benediction, placing of a wreath and posting of the colors by the Sea Cadets.
The Memorial Day commemoration will continue at 10 a.m. at Ignacio Plaza, 525 Henrietta St.
Among the participants will be Mayor Rob Schroder, who will deliver a message, and Gail Haefke and the Martinez Community Choir, who will sing patriotic songs.
Captain John J. Driscoll, of the United States Coast Guard, will deliver the Memorial Day message.
Captain Driscoll currently serves as Commanding Officer, USCGC BERTHOLF (WMSL 750), homeported in Alameda, California. Prior to reporting aboard BERTHOLF, Captain Driscoll served as Commander, Patrol Forces Southwest Asia in Manama, Bahrain where he commanded all U.S. Coast Guard forces deployed in the Central Command Area of Responsibility.
Driscoll has commanded the Coast Guard Cutters Thetis, Nantucket and Matagorda, and has been an Officer in Charge of a law enforcement detachment.
Aboard the USCGC Midgett, he first was supply officer then operations officer, including during a 1999 deployment to the Western Pacific and Arabian Gulf as part of the USS Constellation Carrier Battle Group.
He has been Executive Officer aboard the USCGC Mohawk, which responded to the earthquake in Port au Prince, Haiti and was deployed to Africa as part of the African Maritime Law Enforcement Partnership.
Driscoll is the first Coast Guard graduate of the United States Navy’s Maritime Advanced Warfighting School. He is the son of a career Marine who was in radio operator school in San Diego during the attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, then went to Tarawa, Saipan and Tinian during World War II.
The ceremonies will conclude with a 21-gun salute by the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the playing of “Taps” by Jennifer Oertel.
After the ceremony concludes, brunch will be served at the Veterans Memorial Building, 930 Court St. The public is welcome to attend.
