Brooklyn’s 158th annual Memorial Day Parade honors fallen service members

In 1985, parade officials moved the march to Bay Ridge

Bay Ridge hosted the nation’s oldest continuously run Memorial Day Parade on May 26.

Brooklyn’s 158th annual Memorial Day Parade started at 11 a.m. at Third Avenue and 78th Street, proceeded down Third Avenue to Marine Avenue, over to Fourth Avenue and down to John Paul Jones Park on 101st Street for a memorial service. 

The historic ceremony included floats, bagpipes, flag-raising, wreath-laying by veterans’ service organizations, a 21-gun salute by the Veteran Corps of Artillery, and the playing of Taps.  

 

People gathered to thank veterans for their service and remember the fallen.

FDNY firefighter and U.S. Marine Corps veteran John Callaghan, who was one of the day’s Deputy Grand Marshals, said the parade was a huge success.

He is also Vice President of New York Savages, a non-profit organization that unifies past and present Marines to continue the tradition and the camaraderie they seek.

“This year, the coordinators of the parade honored The Savages by making us the lead veteran service organization and gave me the special honor of being Deputy Grand Marshal,” he told this paper. “We were all very humbled by these titles, and it was an incredible experience.

“The NY Savages have been taking part in the parade since 2018, and it has always been a good feeling to be a part of the event and pay our respects to our fallen brethren,” he said.

The Merchants of Third Avenue were named honorary grand marshals.

This year’s grand marshal was Major General Kris A. Belanger, Commander 99th Readiness Division.

“Today is a day of solemn reflection, but it’s also a day of celebration for the lives who have been lost in defense of our freedom. And so being here, there probably is no better place to be,” she told Brooklyn 12 News.

Women veterans were also named honorary grand marshals. 

“I want to give thanks to Brooklyn’s Memorial Day Parade for recognition as an inaugural honorary marshal as a woman veteran for 2025,” said veteran Melissa Del Valle Ortiz.   

“In addition, it was my honor to have the West Point Alumni of the Emily Perez Foundation accept our invitation to march in her memory and lead the parade’s women’s veterans float.

“We were also blessed to have Gold and White Star Families of the fallen. I look forward to dedicating my volunteer service to the board of Brooklyn’s Memorial Parade in the years to come and having other veterans and military families alongside us.”

The first parade was held on Eastern Parkway in 1867, then moved to Prospect Park West for several years.

In 1985, parade officials moved the march to Bay Ridge.

“Thank you to all those who applauded our veterans along 3rd Ave. and those who joined us

 in Cannonball for our memorial service, the most important part of the day,” wrote Raymond Aalbue, executive director of the United Military Veterans of Kings County and chairman of the parade. “Lest We Forget.”

Eagle Urban Media/Photos by Ted General