Navy Veteran Honored With Grand Marshal Title For Sunday's Parade

Columbia MD

04 November, 2021

10:09 AM

Description

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — U.S. Navy veteran and former U.S. Army Reservist Edward Lawrence Killen has been posthumously named the grand marshal of the 2021 Howard County Veterans Day Parade. The grand marshal title is bestowed upon an individual who represents the values and morals of the Howard County community of veterans and military families, and is selected by the Howard County Veterans Foundation Veterans Day Committee. Killen served in the Vietnam War as a Chinese linguist with the U.S. Navy and later with the U.S. Army Reserve 11th Psychological Operations (PSYOPS) Battalion in the Balkans and the Middle East. He also was a firefighter for Prince George's County at Kentland Station 46 and a paramedic firefighter with the 3rd Battalion. Killen served as chairman of the Howard County Veterans Day Committee from 2015 to 2019 and as a past commander of the American Legion Adams, Hanna, Moore Memorial Post 156. He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign War. He passed away in March 2021. "Larry Killen was an important and involved member of the Howard County Veterans community," Robert Gilette, president of the Howard County Veterans Foundation, said. "We salute his memory and legacy as the 2021 Howard County Veterans Day Parade Grand Marshal." The parade, which begins at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 7, in Columbia's Merriweather District, will honor all branches of the U.S. Military, the National Guard, first responders and their families. As grand marshal, Killen will be recognized at the parade and lakefront ceremony.