Q: Has USS Gridley (DDG-101) returned to Naval Station Everett?
A: No. USS Gridley and USS Nimitz (CVN-68) transited the Strait of Magellan on April 26, 2026, and are now in the Atlantic Ocean heading north. No official homecoming date for USS Gridley’s return to NAVSTA Everett has been announced.

USS Gridley Clears the Strait of Magellan: Everett’s Destroyer Is Now in the Atlantic on the Final Arc of Southern Seas 2026

On April 26, 2026, USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and USS Gridley (DDG-101) crossed a boundary that most warships never reach: they transited the Strait of Magellan, the 350-mile waterway at the southern tip of South America, and entered the Atlantic Ocean for the first time on this deployment.

The U.S. Navy’s official imagery channel, DVIDS, published photographs of the transit that same day. U.S. Southern Command confirmed the milestone on social media, sharing imagery of the carrier moving through the historic strait first charted by Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition in 1520. Stars and Stripes reported the news on April 28.

For the families of USS Gridley’s sailors at Naval Station Everett — and for anyone who has been following the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group’s journey since it departed Naval Base Kitsap in early March — the Strait of Magellan transit marks the turning point. The Pacific leg is done. The ships are now heading north through the Atlantic.

Why the Strait of Magellan — and Not the Panama Canal?

The Panama Canal has a maximum beam of 110 feet for its wider neo-Panamax locks. USS Nimitz, at 252 feet wide, has been too large for the canal since the day she was commissioned in 1975. That physical constraint means any Nimitz-class carrier moving from the Pacific to the Atlantic has exactly two options: round Cape Horn at the very tip of South America, or transit the Strait of Magellan, the slightly calmer waterway just north of Tierra del Fuego.

The Navy chose the Strait of Magellan. The same route Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan charted five centuries ago winds 350 miles between the South American mainland and the island of Tierra del Fuego. It is technically demanding navigation even in modern conditions, and the imagery DVIDS published from the April 26 transit shows just how striking the scenery is: snow-capped Patagonian peaks, rugged coastline, and the open grey water where two oceans finally meet.

The Deployment Timeline So Far

USS Gridley, homeported at Naval Station Everett, deployed as part of the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group in early March 2026. Southern Seas 2026 — the 11th iteration of the U.S. 4th Fleet exercise since 2007 — has taken the strike group through some of the most significant waters in the Western Hemisphere:

• Ecuador (early April): Bilateral exercises with the Ecuadorian Navy in the Pacific Ocean
• Chile — Valparaiso (April 17–21): Port visit on the carrier’s final overseas cruise, with Chilean President Gabriel Boric hosting a visit aboard Nimitz; USS Gridley moored pier-side
• Argentina — at sea off Trelew (April 26–30): PASSEX with six Argentine Navy surface units and two embarked Sea King helicopters; exercises that began on April 26, the same day as the Magellan transit
• Strait of Magellan (April 26): The transit that changed the hemisphere — from Pacific to Atlantic

The Argentine exercises and the Strait of Magellan transit overlapped, a reminder of how much happens simultaneously on a deployment of this scale. The strike group conducted partner-nation exercises right up to the moment of making the southern transit.

What Comes Next: The Atlantic Arc

With the Strait of Magellan behind them, USS Nimitz and USS Gridley are now tracking north along South America’s Atlantic coast. Based on the itinerary U.S. 4th Fleet confirmed in March when the deployment was announced, the Atlantic leg was anticipated to include port calls in Brazil and exercises with additional partner navies — including Brazil and Uruguay — before the strike group proceeds into the Caribbean and ultimately toward Norfolk.

USS Nimitz is ultimately headed for Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, where the carrier will be homeported until her decommissioning. The decommissioning — originally planned for 2026 — was pushed back to 2027, timed to align with the commissioning of USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79). That extended timeline means roughly 5,000 sailors and air wing personnel have additional months of service ahead before the carrier retires after nearly 50 years.

For USS Gridley, Norfolk is a waypoint, not a homeport. Once the strike group’s obligations wrap up, Gridley will make the journey back across the Atlantic and, via the Pacific, back to Naval Station Everett. No official homecoming date has been announced by the Navy.

What This Means for NAVSTA Everett Families

If you have a sailor aboard USS Gridley, the Strait of Magellan transit is a meaningful navigation milestone — but not a homecoming signal. The ships are now in the Atlantic, and there is significant distance still to cover before any return-to-homeport sequence begins.

The Fleet & Family Support Center at Naval Station Everett remains the best resource for official deployment information and for connecting with command family readiness programs. The center can be reached at 425-304-3735. A satellite location also serves the Smokey Point area.

For a complete picture of the deployment and what it means for families at NAVSTA Everett, see the practical family guide to USS Gridley’s Southern Seas deployment and the complete Southern Seas 2026 deployment guide for NAVSTA Everett families.

A Milestone Few Ships Ever Reach

It is worth pausing on what happened April 26. Nimitz-class aircraft carriers are among the largest ships afloat. When USS Nimitz transited the Strait of Magellan, she entered a small category of American supercarriers to complete that passage. The transit confirmed the end of the Pacific arc of Southern Seas 2026 and set the stage for the final leg — north through the Atlantic, toward Norfolk, and toward the carrier’s retirement after nearly 50 years of service.

USS Gridley was right there beside her. That will be something for the Everett sailors aboard to remember for the rest of their careers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Has USS Gridley returned to Naval Station Everett from Southern Seas 2026?
A: No. As of April 28, 2026, USS Gridley (DDG-101) has transited the Strait of Magellan and is in the Atlantic Ocean heading north. No official homecoming date to NAVSTA Everett has been announced.

Q: Why did USS Nimitz go around South America instead of through the Panama Canal?
A: Nimitz-class aircraft carriers are 252 feet wide — too wide for the Panama Canal. The carrier had two options: round Cape Horn or transit the Strait of Magellan. The Navy chose the Strait of Magellan, charted by Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition in 1520.

Q: When did USS Nimitz transit the Strait of Magellan?
A: April 26, 2026, per official Navy imagery published by DVIDS and confirmed by U.S. Southern Command.

Q: Where is USS Nimitz headed after the Strait of Magellan?
A: Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, where the carrier will be homeported until her decommissioning. The decommissioning was pushed back from 2026 to 2027 to align with the commissioning of USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79).

Q: What is Southern Seas 2026?
A: Southern Seas 2026 is the 11th iteration of a U.S. 4th Fleet deployment designed to strengthen maritime partnerships across South America and the Caribbean. The 2026 edition featured USS Nimitz and USS Gridley conducting exercises and port visits with 10 partner nations across the region.

Q: How do NAVSTA Everett families get deployment updates about USS Gridley?
A: The Fleet & Family Support Center at Naval Station Everett is the official point of contact for deployment support. Reach them at 425-304-3735, or visit the Smokey Point satellite office.

Q: Is USS Gridley homeported at Naval Station Everett?
A: Yes. USS Gridley (DDG-101) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer homeported at Naval Station Everett, Washington — one of five destroyers based at the installation.

What is USS Gridley doing this week? USS Gridley (DDG-101), the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer homeported at Naval Station Everett, is operating off Argentina’s coast with the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) carrier strike group. From April 26 through 30, 2026, U.S. and Argentine naval forces are conducting a multi-day passing exercise (PASSEX) in international waters off Trelew. Argentina’s destroyer ARA La Argentina (D-11) joins the formation Tuesday, April 28, with additional Argentine ships and patrol vessels embarking April 29 and beyond. After the PASSEX, the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group will round Cape Horn — the only route home for a carrier too large for the Panama Canal.

USS Gridley Takes Up Station Off Argentina: What the Cape Horn Leg of Southern Seas 2026 Means for Naval Station Everett

For families on Naval Station Everett, the Southern Seas 2026 deployment has been a slow-motion map exercise — Ecuador in early April, Chile last week, and now the longest, loneliest stretch of the cruise: the South Atlantic and the run around Cape Horn. This week, USS Gridley (DDG-101), the destroyer homeported in Everett that is escorting the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) on the carrier’s final overseas deployment, takes up station off Argentina for a multi-day exercise with the Argentine Navy. It’s the third major partner-nation engagement of the cruise and the last big one before the strike group leaves the Pacific Ocean for good.

This is the part of the deployment Everett spouses circled on the calendar months ago — not because anything dramatic is supposed to happen, but because Cape Horn is real weather, real distance, and the point at which Gridley sailors stop being a Pacific ship and start the long run toward Norfolk on the Atlantic side. After this leg, mail slows down. After this leg, time zones flip. The PASSEX off Trelew is the bookend.

What’s Actually Happening Off Argentina

According to U.S. Southern Command and U.S. 4th Fleet announcements covering Southern Seas 2026, the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group — Nimitz, Gridley, Carrier Air Wing 17, and elements of Destroyer Squadron 9 — is scheduled to operate with the Argentine Navy off the coast of Trelew between April 26 and April 30, 2026. The exercise is a PASSEX, the standard term for a passing exercise: two or more navies meeting at sea to drill formation steaming, communications, air operations, and basic interoperability without the formality of a full named exercise.

The Argentine Navy is bringing a substantial package. The destroyer ARA La Argentina (D-11) is scheduled to join the U.S. formation Tuesday, April 28. Two SH-3 Sea King helicopters from Argentina’s Second Naval Helicopter Squadron are planned to embark on USS Gridley for the duration. Two P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft from Argentina’s Naval Exploration Squadron are scheduled to fly reconnaissance in the operating area. Argentine F-18 fighters are tasked to simulate attacking aircraft in an air-defense drill against the formation.

Beginning April 29, additional Argentine units are scheduled to join: the destroyer ARA Sarandí (D-13), the corvettes ARA Robinson (P-45) and ARA Rosales (P-42), and the ocean patrol vessels ARA Piedrabuena (P-52) and ARA Contraalmirante Cordero (P-54). Argentine Naval reporting indicates roughly 350 Argentine sailors will participate across the surface units. After the PASSEX wraps, the Nimitz strike group will continue south toward Cape Horn for the transit to the Atlantic.

None of this is unusual. PASSEX-class events are how partner navies stay legible to each other — the kind of low-stakes, high-repetition work that sounds boring on paper and matters when something is not boring. What makes this one notable for Everett is that it is the fullest partner-nation engagement of Gridley’s deployment so far, and the last big one in daylight before the long, weather-driven Cape Horn leg.

Why This Matters for Everett — and Why It’s Worth Watching Quietly

Naval Station Everett is the homeport for five destroyers, plus a Coast Guard component and a maritime force protection unit. Gridley is one of those five. When a single Everett-homeported ship is at sea on the world’s longest single-cruise route home, the effect ripples outward — through Mukilteo School District classrooms with deployed parents, through the spouse-employment workflow at the Fleet & Family Support Center, through every PTA and youth sports league counting on a parent who isn’t there to coach.

The Southern Seas mission itself is in its 11th iteration since 2007, run by Naval Forces Southern Command and U.S. 4th Fleet. The whole purpose is exactly what is happening this week off Trelew: passing exercises with partner navies, port visits, and the kind of low-temperature presence that makes a regional security architecture work. For Nimitz, this is the last time. The carrier is on its publicly confirmed final overseas deployment before its 2027 decommissioning — a Navy decision the Navy has already extended once to keep the ship in service through this cruise. For Gridley, it is one chapter in a normal Arleigh Burke-class career.

It is also the exact kind of operation that families at NAVSTA Everett were briefed on before the ship left: scheduled, public, and on the formal U.S. 4th Fleet itinerary, but quiet by design. There will not be a real-time location ticker, and there shouldn’t be — both because operational security matters and because the news, when it comes, will come through Navy public affairs releases on DVIDS, USNI News, and Stars and Stripes, all of which are credentialed to cover this kind of work.

The Cape Horn Question

USS Nimitz cannot use the Panama Canal. The carrier’s beam exceeds the canal’s lock dimensions, even after the 2016 expansion of the Panama Canal Authority’s New Panamax locks. That leaves Cape Horn as the only seaway home, which is why the Southern Seas 2026 itinerary is actually the only itinerary the Navy could plan: down the Pacific coast, around the bottom of South America, up the Atlantic to Norfolk.

Cape Horn is famous for a reason. The Drake Passage that separates Tierra del Fuego from Antarctica is one of the worst stretches of water in the world for surface ships — not because it’s shallow but because of the convergence of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Southern oceans without a continental shelf to break the swell. Modern carriers and destroyers transit it routinely; it is not exotic. But it is meaningful enough that the strike group’s media-relations rhythm is built around it. The Navy’s pre-cruise announcement explicitly mentioned the Cape Horn route. The Argentine PASSEX is the last formal partner exercise on the Pacific side.

For Everett, the practical effect is communication latency. After the strike group transits Cape Horn, time zones jump several hours, and shipboard communications priorities shift to the Atlantic context. Family Readiness Group updates that came through with Pacific timing earlier in the cruise will arrive on a different rhythm. None of this is new to anyone who has done a deployment before — it is just a real thing that is about to happen.

What Whitelist Sources Have Said

The U.S. 4th Fleet press release announcing Southern Seas 2026 (March 23, 2026, southcom.mil) named Nimitz and Gridley as the two U.S. units, named the cooperating partner nations, and described the deployment as a circumnavigation of South America. Stars and Stripes covered the announcement and the carrier’s operational extension into 2027. USNI News has been running its standard Fleet and Marine Tracker through the deployment, including the April 20 update placing the strike group in the South Pacific. DVIDS has been the primary photo and short-news outlet for individual port-visit and exercise events as they happen.

Argentina-specific coverage of the PASSEX has so far come primarily from Argentine outlets and from regional naval reporters; the U.S. side will release its own DVIDS imagery and short news posts after the exercise begins. That sequencing — partner-nation announcements first, U.S. PA imagery on a delay — is normal for SOUTHCOM PASSEX events.

Where Everett Families Find Updates Without Speculating

The pattern that has worked all cruise is the right pattern for this leg too. The Navy’s Public Affairs releases through DVIDS and the strike group itself are the source of record. USNI News and Stars and Stripes pick up those releases quickly. The official U.S. 4th Fleet account on social media posts imagery and short summaries of completed events — past tense, never future tense. Friends and family of Gridley sailors should default to those sources rather than tracking sites or open-source ship trackers, both because shipboard communications discipline asks for that and because the official channels will be the first to show pictures of sailors looking tired and happy after each event.

For administrative or family questions during the leg — childcare windows during the time-zone swing, deployment counseling, financial questions tied to the cruise itself — the Fleet & Family Support Center at NAVSTA Everett (425-304-3735) remains the front door. That center has the deployment-resource portfolio worked out for exactly this kind of mid-cruise stretch. Mukilteo School District and Everett Public Schools both run their own military-family liaison structures, and Month of the Military Child programming has wrapped for April but the school-level support continues year-round.

What Comes Next on the Cruise Map

After the Argentine PASSEX, the next publicly described milestones are the Cape Horn transit itself and the run up the Atlantic. U.S. 4th Fleet has named Brazil and additional partner nations as part of the deployment plan; specific port visits and exercise dates on the Atlantic side will be released through the same channels — DVIDS, southcom.mil, U.S. Embassy press offices in the host countries — that handled the Ecuador and Chile legs.

For Gridley specifically, the deployment is one event on a normal Arleigh Burke career, not a final cruise. The ship returns to Everett on the schedule released to families before departure. Once back at Pier 3, the rhythm resumes: maintenance windows, port-and-starboard duty, the slow buildup to whatever comes next. None of that is the news this week. This week, the news is that USS Gridley took up station off Argentina, the ARA La Argentina is steaming alongside, and Cape Horn is on the horizon.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is USS Gridley right now?

USS Gridley (DDG-101) is operating with the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) carrier strike group in the Southern Seas 2026 deployment area off Argentina. Per U.S. Southern Command and U.S. 4th Fleet, the strike group is conducting a multi-day passing exercise with the Argentine Navy off Trelew between April 26 and April 30, 2026. Specific locations beyond what SOUTHCOM and DVIDS publicly release are not appropriate to track.

What is a PASSEX?

A PASSEX (passing exercise) is a low-formality exercise where two or more navies meet at sea to practice formation steaming, communications, basic air operations, and partner interoperability. PASSEX-class events are the most common form of partner-navy engagement and are a core building block of SOUTHCOM and 4th Fleet’s regional security mission.

Why is the Nimitz strike group rounding Cape Horn instead of using the Panama Canal?

USS Nimitz exceeds the Panama Canal’s lock dimensions and cannot transit the canal. Cape Horn is the only sea route from the Pacific to the Atlantic for a Nimitz-class carrier, which is why the entire Southern Seas 2026 itinerary is built as a South American circumnavigation.

Is this Nimitz’s final deployment?

Yes — Southern Seas 2026 is USS Nimitz’s publicly confirmed final overseas deployment before the carrier is decommissioned. The Navy has extended the ship’s service life to keep it active through this cruise, with the carrier scheduled to begin deactivation procedures after arriving at Naval Station Norfolk.

How will families at NAVSTA Everett get updates during the Cape Horn leg?

Through the same channels used all cruise: official Navy Public Affairs releases on DVIDS, U.S. 4th Fleet’s official accounts, USNI News, and Stars and Stripes. The Family Readiness Group through the Fleet & Family Support Center at 425-304-3735 remains the front door for administrative and family questions during the deployment.

Is the timing of the PASSEX a security risk?

No. PASSEX windows and partner-nation participation are publicly released by SOUTHCOM and U.S. 4th Fleet because the entire purpose of the exercise is partner-nation visibility. Specific tactical positions during the exercise are not released, and tracking sites or unofficial position trackers are not the right reference.

What other Everett ships are deployed right now?

Naval Station Everett’s destroyer squadron homeports five Arleigh Burke-class ships. Beyond Gridley’s participation in Southern Seas 2026, the deployment status of other Everett ships is published by the Navy through DVIDS and Public Affairs. This article does not speculate on operational schedules beyond what the Navy has publicly released.

When does Gridley come home?

The Navy has not publicly released a specific return date. The strike group is scheduled to complete the South American circumnavigation and return to U.S. ports on a schedule released to crew families before deployment. Updates will come through the official channels named above.

Quick answer: Memorial Day 2026 is Monday, May 25. The closest VA national cemetery to Naval Station Everett is Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, which holds its annual Memorial Day Commemorative Ceremony at 1 p.m. that Monday at the Main Flag Pole Assembly Area. Closer to home, Snohomish County’s Eternal Flame at the County Courthouse (3000 Rockefeller Ave., Everett) is the central county-level remembrance site, and Lake Stevens American Legion Post 181, Floral Hills in Lynnwood, and Evergreen Cemetery in Everett all host community services that morning.

If you’ve just PCS’d to Naval Station Everett, retired in Snohomish County, or moved here to support a sailor or soldier in the family, Memorial Day is one of the days the local military community is easiest to find. The bases are quieter than Navy Birthday or Veterans Day, but the cemeteries and memorials are full — and the people who run those services are the same people who run the volunteer drivers at the VA, the American Legion posts, the VFWs, and the spouse networks the rest of the year.

This is a practical 2026 guide to where to go, when, and what to expect — written for the family that wants to do the day right and meet a few of the people who’d be good to know once the parade ends.

Why this matters for the Everett military community

Snohomish County is home to roughly 52,000 veterans — about one in eleven county residents — plus the active-duty population at Naval Station Everett, the five Arleigh Burke-class destroyers homeported there (USS Momsen, USS Kidd, USS Gridley, USS Sampson, USS Ralph Johnson), and several thousand military family members spread across Mukilteo, Marysville, Lake Stevens, and the unincorporated edges of the county.

Memorial Day is the day that community shows up in one place. Active-duty sailors stand color guard at services. Vietnam-era VFW members read the names. Gold Star families lay wreaths. Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts plant flags at headstones the Saturday before. Local mayors give the speeches that don’t make the regional news but matter enormously to the families in the front rows.

For a military family that’s two months into a Naval Station Everett tour, going to one of these services is often the fastest way to meet the people who’ll be at every PCS hello-and-goodbye for the next three years. (For more on what life looks like at NAVSTA Everett right now, see our guide to the FF(X) frigate decision and what it means for PCS plans, school choices, and the next decade for Navy families based in Everett.)

The closest VA national cemetery: Tahoma in Kent

Tahoma National Cemetery at 18600 SE 240th St., Kent, is the federally-administered national cemetery serving the Puget Sound region — the burial ground operated by the National Cemetery Administration under the Department of Veterans Affairs. It is the closest VA national cemetery to Naval Station Everett.

The drive from NAVSTA Everett to Tahoma is roughly 50 minutes south on I-5 in Memorial Day morning traffic, longer if you leave after 11 a.m.

The 2026 ceremony: Memorial Day Commemorative Ceremony, Monday, May 25, 2026, 1 p.m., at the Main Flag Pole Assembly Area. The program follows the standard Tahoma format — wreath-laying, rifle volley, and Taps, with remarks from local civic leaders and retired military officers. The ceremony is free and open to the public.

Practical notes for first-time visitors:

• Arrive by 12:15 p.m. Parking inside the cemetery fills early. Once the lots are full, staff direct cars to overflow parking with shuttle service.
• Bring water, sunscreen, and a hat. The assembly area is exposed and seating is minimal — most attendees stand.
• Wear comfortable walking shoes. Even from the closest lots, the walk to the flag pole is several hundred yards on uneven ground.
• The cemetery hosts a “Run to Tahoma” community event the same morning organized through the Kitsap County Veterans Advisory Board for those who want a longer-distance commemoration before the 1 p.m. service.

For sailors, families, or veterans who want the most formal Memorial Day service in the region — full military honors, full federal protocol — Tahoma is the answer.

The county-level service: Snohomish County Eternal Flame

The Snohomish County Eternal Flame sits in front of the Robert J. Drewel Building at the County Courthouse complex, 3000 Rockefeller Ave., Everett. It is the county’s central memorial to its veterans and the most accessible Memorial Day stop for anyone living in central or downtown Everett.

Snohomish County typically holds an 11 a.m. Veterans Day service at the Eternal Flame in November, and the same site hosts informal Memorial Day gatherings — wreath placements, individual remembrances, and small ceremonies coordinated by local VFW and American Legion posts — throughout the morning of the holiday. Families with school-age kids who want to keep the day local often come here first, then move to one of the cemetery services.

The Drewel Building is also where the Snohomish County Veterans Assistance Program (VAP) office is located — the county-funded program that helps veterans and their families with rent, utilities, prescriptions, transportation, and emergency needs. Most county veterans don’t know the program exists. Memorial Day is a quiet, low-pressure day to walk past the office, see the staff, and pick up the contact card. (For a deeper look at how the county program fits with the federal VA system, see our complete 2026 guide to getting VA claims help in Snohomish County.)

The community services in Snohomish County

Multiple community services across the county happen Memorial Day morning. These are the longest-running and most reliable for 2026.

Lake Stevens American Legion Post 181

Post 181 traditionally hosts two Memorial Day services on Monday morning:

• 10 a.m. at the Lake Stevens War Veterans Memorial flag display, 1808 Main St., Lake Stevens
• Noon at the Machias Cemetery, 1201 Silva St., Snohomish

The Lake Stevens services are short, family-friendly, and are some of the only regularly attended community services east of I-5 in the county. Post 181 has been doing this for decades.

Floral Hills in Lynnwood

The Purdy & Walters at Floral Hills annual Memorial Day program at 409 Filbert Rd., Lynnwood typically runs:

• 10:30 a.m. band concert
• 11 a.m. ceremony

Floral Hills is the largest cemetery in southwest Snohomish County and the regular Memorial Day stop for families based out of Mountlake Terrace, Mukilteo, and the south end of the county. Programs are listed annually on the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) calendar.

Evergreen Cemetery in Everett

Evergreen Cemetery, 4505 Broadway, Everett is the historic in-city cemetery — the burial ground for many of Everett’s earliest civic leaders and Civil War-era veterans. The site has hosted Memorial Day commemorations going back more than a century. For 2026 program times, the Everett Public Library and the city’s Parks and Recreation calendar typically post details in the two weeks before the holiday.

For veterans buried at Evergreen, families typically come the Sunday afternoon or Monday morning before the larger county services to place flowers and flags individually.

What to do the rest of the weekend

Memorial Day weekend is three full days in 2026 — Saturday May 23 through Monday May 25. A practical Snohomish County itinerary for a military family looks like:

Saturday morning — Flag-placement events. Boy Scout troops, Cub Scout packs, and Civil Air Patrol cadets across the county place small American flags on veteran headstones. Tahoma National Cemetery, Floral Hills, Cypress Lawn (1615 SE Everett Mall Way), and Evergreen all get flags this weekend. Showing up to help is a fast way to meet the local Scouting and youth-veterans community.

Sunday — Quiet day. Many Snohomish County churches incorporate Memorial Day remembrances into their Sunday services. The American Legion and VFW posts are typically open in the afternoon.

Monday — The day itself. Tahoma at 1 p.m. for the most formal service. Lake Stevens, Floral Hills, or Evergreen in the morning if you want a community-scale event.

Monday afternoon — Most VFW and American Legion halls in the county host open houses, family-friendly gatherings, or potlucks after the morning services. VFW Post 2100 in downtown Everett (Suite 101 of the Vet Center building) and American Legion Post 6 in Snohomish are the two most active in central county. (The Vet Center building also houses the VFW Service Officer who handles VA claims help — making the Suite 101 location worth knowing year-round.)

If you can’t make a service

A practical alternative for sailors who can’t get away from the base, or family members who can’t make a public service:

• Place a wreath at the Snohomish County Eternal Flame any time on Monday. The site is unstaffed and unrestricted.
• Make a contribution to a service organization — the USO Northwest, the Snohomish County VAP, or a county VSO — in lieu of attendance.
• Read the names of the Snohomish County service members who’ve died in service since 9/11 at the Centennial Trail memorial at Haller Bridge in Arlington. The kiosk includes interpretive panels for each name.

Resources for military families new to the area

Three numbers and links worth keeping for any military family doing their first Memorial Day in Snohomish County:

• Naval Station Everett Fleet & Family Support Center: 425-304-3735 — for any deployment-related question, family event, or community resource referral.
• Snohomish County Veterans Assistance Program (VAP): snohomishcountywa.gov/veterans — for emergency assistance, transportation, or VSO referral.
• Tahoma National Cemetery: cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/tahoma.asp — for burial eligibility, memorial benefits, and event schedule.

For anyone arriving on PCS orders this spring or summer, the practical follow-on after Memorial Day is the Fleet & Family Support Center’s resource intake — the same office that runs the spouse employment programs and the deployment family support groups. Memorial Day is when you meet the community. The week after is when the FFSC plugs you into it. (See our deep dive on how NAVSTA Everett supports Navy kids and families through the FFSC and the school liaison office.)

Frequently Asked Questions

What day is Memorial Day 2026?

Memorial Day 2026 is Monday, May 25. It is the last Monday of May, as set by the 1968 Uniform Monday Holiday Act.

Is there a VA national cemetery in Everett?

No. The closest VA national cemetery to Naval Station Everett is Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, about 50 minutes south on I-5. Tahoma is the only VA national cemetery in the Puget Sound region.

Is Tahoma National Cemetery’s Memorial Day ceremony open to the public?

Yes. The ceremony is free and open to the public. Plan to arrive by 12:15 p.m. Monday May 25, 2026 because parking inside the cemetery fills early and overflow parking requires a shuttle.

Where is the Snohomish County Eternal Flame?

The Eternal Flame is at the Snohomish County Courthouse / Robert J. Drewel Building, 3000 Rockefeller Ave., Everett. It is the county’s central veterans memorial and is accessible 24 hours a day.

Are the Memorial Day services in Snohomish County family-friendly?

Yes. The Lake Stevens services at the War Veterans Memorial and Machias Cemetery, and the Floral Hills program in Lynnwood, are designed for family attendance with short program lengths, seating, and accessible venues. Tahoma’s main service is longer and more formal but is still family-friendly with adequate planning.

How can a Naval Station Everett family find local Memorial Day events the week before?

Two reliable sources: the Naval Station Everett Fleet & Family Support Center at 425-304-3735, and the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs event calendar at dva.wa.gov. The HeraldNet and MyEverettNews local outlets also publish Memorial Day round-ups in the days before the holiday.

Where can I get help with a VA claim related to a service member I’m honoring on Memorial Day?

The Snohomish County Veterans Assistance Program at the Drewel Building is the closest in-person resource for VA claims help in the county, alongside the VFW Service Officer at the Vet Center building Suite 101 and the monthly Veterans Benefits Administration field visits to the Everett Vet Center. (See our prior coverage on VA claims help options after the 2026 Vet Center schedule change for the full breakdown.)