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News & Photos
Memorial Day Ceremony 2026 Marks 80 Years of Tradition
Tradition is at the heart of McDonogh School, and on Tuesday, May 19 the community gathered for the 80th annual Memorial Day ceremony. “It is one of the most profound and solemn occasions in our school calendar,” said Head of School Dave Farace ‘87 in his welcoming remarks, reminding the gathering, “It is a sacred moment when we pause to honor those who cherished freedom and peace so deeply that they laid down their lives in service to their country and to us all.”
After sharing a brief history of Memorial Court and McDonogh’s Gold Star Heroes, whose names are inscribed on the monument — the centerpiece of the area — Farace added, “McDonogh is a community that remembers. Thank you for joining me today to pause and offer our thanks.”
The ceremony continued with a reading from the poem, “For the Fallen,” by poet and scholar Laurence Binyon. Then, Director of Spiritual and Ceremonial Services Kevin Costa shared the story of a patriot of the past, John Marshall Pels, Class of 1947. In telling his story, he explained, “It helps us remember that each and every enlisted person also lived lives not so different from our own. And it’s this closeness that can bring them alive to us once again.”
Costa, who combed through Pels’ student file, discovered notes, reflections, reports, and ordinary correspondence from his teachers, sometimes noting that he was underachieving, sometimes that he was a leader, and always that he was good, kind, and decent. After graduating from Johns Hopkins University in 1952, Pels went on to serve in the US Marine Corps during the Korean War and died on December 27, 1954 from wounds he sustained during a skirmish in the Demilitarized Zone—the DMZ—the boundary on the 38th parallel separating North and South Korea. (Read the reflection on John Marshall Pels.)
As students, faculty, and guests reflected on the story, the Lower School Choir performed When Angels Call Me Home. Next, Costa introduced the poem "The McDonogh Uniform” written by Eustace Glascock, a member of the McDonogh Class of 1879 who recited the poem at the School’s first Memorial Day ceremony eight decades ago.
The iconic poem was then recited by Alumni Association President Kimmy Hilson Carmichael ’10 and current students Maxwell Jackson '27, Shivika Nigam '30, and Bowen S. '34. The annual Memorial Day ceremony concluded with Carmichael and rising Senior Class President Huy Le ’27 placing a wreath at the monument to honor McDonogh veterans.
After Taps was played, "Thanks," from the collection The Rain in the Trees, by W. S. Merwin, was read, and the students in attendance dismissed in silence as the Upper School Strings performed Finlandia.
Throughout the day, students visited a display of Korean War military artifacts curated by historian Butch Maisel ‘72.
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Tradition is at the heart of McDonogh School, and on Tuesday, May 19 the community gathered for the 80th annual Memorial Day ceremony. “It is one of the most profound and solemn occasions in our school calendar,” said Head of School Dave Farace ‘87 in his welcoming remarks, reminding the gathering, “It is a sacred moment when we pause to honor those who cherished freedom and peace so deeply that they laid down their lives in service to their country and to us all.”
After sharing a brief history of Memorial Court and McDonogh’s Gold Star Heroes, whose names are inscribed on the monument — the centerpiece of the area — Farace added, “McDonogh is a community that remembers. Thank you for joining me today to pause and offer our thanks.”
The ceremony continued with a reading from the poem, “For the Fallen,” by poet and scholar Laurence Binyon. Then, Director of Spiritual and Ceremonial Services Kevin Costa shared the story of a patriot of the past, John Marshall Pels, Class of 1947. In telling his story, he explained, “It helps us remember that each and every enlisted person also lived lives not so different from our own. And it’s this closeness that can bring them alive to us once again.”
Costa, who combed through Pels’ student file, discovered notes, reflections, reports, and ordinary correspondence from his teachers, sometimes noting that he was underachieving, sometimes that he was a leader, and always that he was good, kind, and decent. After graduating from Johns Hopkins University in 1952, Pels went on to serve in the US Marine Corps during the Korean War and died on December 27, 1954 from wounds he sustained during a skirmish in the Demilitarized Zone—the DMZ—the boundary on the 38th parallel separating North and South Korea. (Read the reflection on John Marshall Pels.)
As students, faculty, and guests reflected on the story, the Lower School Choir performed When Angels Call Me Home. Next, Costa introduced the poem "The McDonogh Uniform” written by Eustace Glascock, a member of the McDonogh Class of 1879 who recited the poem at the School’s first Memorial Day ceremony eight decades ago.
The iconic poem was then recited by Alumni Association President Kimmy Hilson Carmichael ’10 and current students Maxwell Jackson '27, Shivika Nigam '30, and Bowen S. '34. The annual Memorial Day ceremony concluded with Carmichael and rising Senior Class President Huy Le ’27 placing a wreath at the monument to honor McDonogh veterans.
After Taps was played, "Thanks," from the collection The Rain in the Trees, by W. S. Merwin, was read, and the students in attendance dismissed in silence as the Upper School Strings performed Finlandia.
Throughout the day, students visited a display of Korean War military artifacts curated by historian Butch Maisel ‘72.