The 59th annual Delaware County Veterans Day Parade and Ceremony will be held on Nov. 12 beginning at 11:11 a.m. The annual recognition will honor U.S. Veterans with a parade on State Street in Media followed by a ceremony in front of the Delaware County Courthouse at Front Street and Veterans Square.
This year, the parade will be in honor of the 100th anniversary of World War I. Valley Forge Military Academy’s Mounted Color Guard and Band will lead the parade followed by dozens of Veterans, local leaders, school marching bands and various community organizations.
The 2018 Grand Marshall is Staff Sergeant Joe Dimond, a U.S. Marine Corps Veteran. His nine years serving as a Marine included a deployment to Fallujah, Iraq, where he served as NCOIC for the EOD Security Team. During his time in Fallujah, their team led almost 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.
After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, Staff Sergeant Dimond worked in the defense industry, where he helped warfighters on the ground and supported the United States mission around the globe. He helped develop and introduce a defensive product to protect troops on the ground from snipers, small arms and large explosives. His work in the defense industry took him to over 30 countries, working with allies to address their localized threats.
Since becoming a civilian, Staff Sergeant Dimond works in support of Veterans dealing with PTSD. He’s run multiple events for homeless Veterans and co-founded “The Stain of War,” an awareness project created to shed light on the effects of war. The goal of the project is to address the challenges around Combat PTSD, remove the stigma and combat the current Veteran suicide crisis that takes the lives of more than 20 Veterans daily.