Marine Corps honors DoDEA director

The director of the Defense Department’s school system for military children will be honored at the Marine Corps Sunset Parade at 7 p.m. tonight at the Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington.

Marilee Fitzgerald, director of the Department of Defense Education Activity, expressed gratitude for the Marine Corps’ recognition and appreciation of DoDEA’s mission of educating more than 84,000 students around the world. Of those, about 8,000 students are affiliated with the Marine Corps.

Fitzgerald, who leads a team of nearly 16,000 employees in DoDEA’s 194 schools around the world, will retire this summer.

“I appreciate their recognition as a tribute to the Department of Defense Education Activity and the collective and incomparable efforts of an extraordinary team of professionals,” she said in a statement. “I am honored and proud to be recognized at this event that is so rich in tradition and significance and I am grateful for their support.”