Law enforcement officers, firefighters, and families will gather at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens on Friday for the 30th Annual Fallen Heroes Day ceremony, an event honoring those who died in the line of duty.
The observance begins at 1 p.m., at Dulaney Valley, in Timonium, and honors those whose deaths have been declared "line of duty" during the past year. Since the May 2014 Fallen Heroes Day ceremony, three firefighters and three police officers have died in the line of duty. They are:
• Fire Apparatus Driver/Operator Robert Fogle III, Baltimore County Fire Department, May 30, 2014
• Lt. James Bethea, Baltimore City Fire Department, November 12, 2014
• Corporal Jamel Clagett, Charles County Sheriff's Office, December 21, 2014
• Paramedic Erik Steciak, Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company, January 6, 2015
• Officer Craig Chandler, Baltimore Police Department, January 9, 2015
• Officer First Class Brennan Rabain, Prince George's County Police Department, March 7, 2015
During the ceremony, after each 2015 fallen hero is remembered, their family will be presented with a replica of the Fallen Heroes Memorial and a resolution from the Maryland General Assembly. The ceremony includes a wreath laying, 21-gun salute, and taps.
The event will be dedicated to John W. Armiger Jr., the ceremony's founder, who died in March of this year.
Fallen Heroes Day was originally to be held on May 1, but was postponed in the wake of the unrest that had occurred in Baltimore.
The Fallen Heroes Memorial is located within Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens, 200 East Padonia Road, Timonium. The observance is free and open to the public. For more information, call 410-666-0490 or dulaneyvalley.com.