59th Annual Delaware County Veterans Day Parade set for Monday, November 12
U.S. Marine veteran Joe Dimond chosen as grand marshal
MEDIA >> The 59th Annual Delaware County Veterans Day Parade will honor U.S. veterans with a parade on State Street Monday, Nov. 12, beginning at 11:11 a.m. This year, the parade will start at the intersection of Jackson and State Streets and end in front of the Delaware County Courthouse, Front and Veterans Square, where a ceremony will take place immediately following the parade. Valley Forge Academy Mounted Color Guard will lead the parade, followed by their band. Over ten bands are scheduled to participate in this year’s parade, considered to be the largest in the state of Pennsylvania. The
2018 Veterans Day Parade will be in honor of the 100th anniversary of WWI. The
78th Infantry Division reenactors will portray WWI soldiers in tribute.
The parade will also pay tribute to four World War II veterans, who will line up to ride in consecutive cars. The veterans’ combined age is almost 400 years. One of the WWII veterans is Eugene Vickers of Newtown Square, who will turn 103 years old on Veterans Day. Other WWII veterans are Angelo Marsella, Bill Fili and Ed Hess.
Retired Pennsylvania State Policeman Lt. Kevin Pierce, who performed at the 2018 Philadelphia Veterans Day Parade on Sunday and has performed annually at the Delaware County Veterans Day Parade since 2000, will serenade the special WWII honorees with a rendition of “What a Wonderful World.” He is also scheduled to sing The National Anthem, “God Bless the U.S.A.” and “America The Beautiful.”
“Although they are predicting temperatures that may dip into the 40s,” Media Mayor Bob McMahon stated, “I hope everyone will still come out to honor our veterans. We are making every effort to be sure everyone will be comfortable.”
The mayor was talking with officials at Media Elementary School in an attempt to arrange space for the school bands and some others, to keep them warm until it’s their turn to join the parade lineup.
This year’s grand marshal will be Joe Dimond, who served more than nine years in the United States Marine Corps. Dimond’s military service included a combat deployment to Fallujah, Iraq, where he served as NCOIC for the EOD Security Team. During his time in Fallujah, he and his team ran close to 400 missions in and around the city. Dimond earned a Combat Action Ribbon and Navy Achievement Medal with V distinguishing device for Valor in Combat. He left the Marine Corps at the rank of SSgt.
After the Marine Corps, he went to work in the Defense Industry, where he spent all of his time trying to help the fighters on the ground and support the United States mission around the globe. He helped develop and introduce a defensive product that would protect troops on the ground from snipers, small arms and some large explosives. The product was named “McCurdy’s Armor” after Ryan McCurdy, a Marine whom Dimond served with in Fallujah. McCurdy was killed by sniper fire while trying to save another Marine.
Dimond’s work in the defense industry took him to more than 30 countries, working with allies to address their localized threats, which often had an impact globally. Some of these travels included Afghanistan for the Taliban/ Al Qaeda threat; Colombia for the FARC Rebels; Kenya to combat Al Shabaab; Mexico and the Drug Cartels, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon to address the ISIS threat.
Dimond has appeared in documentaries and many other international news specials featuring his experiences and the Global War on Terrorism as a whole. These shows include “ISIS: Rise of Terror,” a documentary on the History Channel, along with panel segments on networks like Fox News, Al Jazeera and CNN.
Since transitioning back to civilian life, Dimond has worked tirelessly in support of Veterans dealing with PTSD. He’s run multiple events for homeless Veterans and co-founded a non-profit called “The Stain of War.” The Stain of War is an awareness project, meant to shed light on the effects of war on a human being. It’s meant to help address the challenges around Combat PTSD, remove the stigma that comes with it and hopefully help combat the current veteran suicide crisis that takes the lives of over 20 veterans daily.
Joe Dimond has since left the Defense industry and now works in Cyber Security, to help address the newest threats facing this country and the globe. Joe’s Father is Bob Dimond, a Korean War Veteran, who committed his life to Veterans issues and serving the community, up until his death this past October. Joe and his wife, Dana, have five sons and the oldest, Hugh, just became a United States Marine this past October as well, following in Joe’s footsteps and continuing the tradition of commitment to this country.
Dimond is expected to talk at the ceremony, also attended by Delaware County Council members, Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, and other local dignitaries. Additionally, at the parade ceremony, the first, second and third place winners of the annual Mary Ryan Memorial Essay Contest for middle school students, sponsored by the Veterans Legacy and the Delaware County Intermediate Unit, will be recognized. The young winners will read aloud their winning essays.
Among the other youth at this year’s parade will be the fifth-grade classes from all four of Rose Tree Media School District’s elementary schools.
“Having these students here is what’s the most important to me,” McMahon said. “We want them to learn all about the service of their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. Having our kids participate in honoring those who served is really one of the most important elements of the day.”
Media VFW Post 3460,
11 Hilltop Road, Media, will be among the parade participants, as well as hold its annual Veterans Day Open House at the post home immediately following the parade. According to McMahon, VFW Post 3460, as well American Legion Post #93,
134 E. Third St., Media, were both instrumental in the organizing of this year’s parade.
If the parade is rained out, a special Veterans Day ceremony will be held in the Media Theatre on State Street, from 11 a.m. to 12 noon, with Color Guards, a performance by Lt. Kevin Pierce and special remarks by parade grand marshal veteran Dimond, Sen. Bob Casey, and others. The World War II veteran honorees will be seated on stage or in the first row of the theatre. The students, who won the recent essay contest, will come onto the stage to read their winning essays.
“I hope everyone will take the time to come out to support the Veterans Day Parade and honor our veterans,” McMahon said. “It’s going to be a wonderful day.”