A 2022 Memorial Day Commemoration Ceremony will be staged at the San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery in Santa Nella, Merced County, on Sunday, May 29.

The address is 32053 W. McCabe Road and the ceremony is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. and last approximately two hours.

Keynote Speaker will be Dennis B. Edmondson Brigadier General, USV (Ret); while Los Banos Mayor Tom Faria will also present a special proclamation in honor of the event.

The Department of Veterans Affairs San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery will host this Memorial Day wreath laying ceremony, accompanied by speeches, a roll-call of unaccompanied service members, the playing of Taps, a rifle volley, and a moment of silence. This will be the first public Memorial Day ceremony at the cemetery since 2019, and officials are eager to have residents from throughout the area attend.

Veterans Affairs operates 155 national cemeteries and 34 soldiers’ lots and monument sites in 44 states and Puerto Rico. More than five million Americans, including Veterans of every war and conflict, are buried in Veterans Affairs cemeteries. Fulfilling President Lincoln’s call “to care for him who shall have borne the battle,” Veterans Affairs also provides headstones, markers or medallions for Veterans buried in state, territorial and tribal Veterans cemeteries or interred in private cemeteries.

While this will be an outdoor event, all attendees are encouraged to adhere to CDC guidelines, wear masks and maintain physical distancing from other attendees to limit the transmission of COVID-19.