Retired Rear Adm. R. Timothy Ziemer, U.S. Global Malaria Coordinator, will be guest speaker at the annual Memorial Day Sunday Service held 9 a.m. May 26 at Cedar Crest Bible Fellowship Church, 1151 S. Cedar Crest Blvd., Salisbury Township.

Ziemer is a Vietnam War veteran.

Born in Sioux City, Iowa, he was raised in Asia as the son of missionary parents serving in Vietnam. Upon graduation from Wheaton College, he joined the U.S. Navy, completed flight school and returned to Vietnam during the war. He commanded several squadrons, naval stations and an air wing supporting the first Gulf War. Subsequent assignments included serving as the senior fellow with the Navy's Strategic Studies Program at the Naval War College and deputy director for operations in the National Military Operations Center on the Joint Command Staff.

He served as executive director of World Relief, based in Baltimore, until June 2006, when he was appointed by President George W. Bush to lead the President's Malaria Initiative, an historic $1.2 billion, 5-year initiative to control malaria in Africa.

In 2008, the Lantos-Hyde Act authorized an expansion of PMI, and in 2009, it was included as a key component of the U.S. Government's Global Health Initiative. The PMI strategy is targeted to achieve Africa-wide impact by halving the burden of malaria in 70 percent of at-risk populations in sub-Saharan Africa, approximately 450 million people, thereby removing malaria as a major public health problem and promoting economic growth and development throughout the region.