DELCO SALUTE
THOUSANDS LINE STREET IN MEDIA TO THANK THOSE WHO SERVED
Havertown-native and Marine Corps vet Con McGinley, 87, who served in the military from 1948 until 1952 completing tours in Korea and Guam, participates in the annual Veteran’s Day Parade in Media.
MEDIA » The annual Veteran’s Day Parade in Media has long been one of the finest showings of patriotism and respect the country has to offer.
Widely recognized for its acknowledgment of veterans long passed and those still in service, thousands gathered along State Street to wave to the procession of local high school marching bands, participating vets of all military arms, local legislators and first responders Friday.
U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan, R-7 of Chadds Ford, said despite the frigid temperatures that his heart was warm to see generations of families continue the tradition of the parade.
“This is a day for us to honor the veterans, and not just the recent veterans, but it’s so heartwarming to see some from the Vietnam-era and the World War II-era,” Meehan said. “I like watching the kids come by and learning a bit of what their predecessors have done and to see grandchildren with their grandfathers (who are) all so proud.
U.S. Senator Bob Casey, D-Pa., referenced a line from “America the Beautiful” that goes, “Oh beautiful for patriot dream.”
“Thank you to our veterans for having the dream of a patriot, which not only means serving our country, but also being great citizens when they come home,” Casey said. “Thanks for thinking and working and fighting on behalf for those who come after, seeing beyond the years.”
Media Mayor Bob McMahon introduced guest speakers Maureen Robinson, a captain in the Army Nurse Corps. who served two tours in the Vietnam War, and her son Mark Robinson, whom she rescued, adopted and brought back to the United States.
Mark was a child born among the ranks of the Montagnards, “our greatest allies” in the war, McMahon said.
“America had a lot of allies during the Vietnam War, none better than a group called the Mountain Yards, who were in the central highlands,” McMahon said. “Close to 70,000 served with us, and over 20,000 lost their lives.”
Following her service in Vietnam, Robinson joined a 13-month tour for former Army nurses who were Vietnam vets, and while serving she met a 3-year-old boy who was suffered from extreme malnutrition.
“I just wanted to go back, and that’s where I met my son,” Robinson said.
Over the course of a few weeks, she became very attached to the child, who was born Dinh Nit, and asked him if he’d like to go back to the United States with her.
The boy asked if there were bunkers back home and wondered how people protect themselves from the Vietcong.
“(The Montagnards) are still paying for their alliance with Americans,” Robinson said.
Mark Robinson calls Maureen his “mother, hero and your captain.”
A restaurateur from Pittsburgh, Robinson, 50, said he is “living the American dream thanks to one extraordinary nurse.”
“She taught me that it’s not what you have, but who you have and what you fill your life with everyday,” Robinson said. “If you fill your life with hate, you will only have suffering, pain and sickness, regardless of all the good around you.”
He finished on a high note, before embracing his mother with a hug.
“If you fill yourself with love every single day, you will find that you are the light, the force, the cure for all the suffering, pain and sickness,” Robinson said.