Silver Star recipient grand marshal in West Side Veterans Memorial Day Parade

KINGSTON — Silver Star recipient Cpl. John Richards will be the Grand Marshal of the 130th West Side Veterans Memorial Day Parade that will step off at 10:30 p.m. sharp from Kingston Corners on Memorial Day, May 31.

Richards, 75, said being selected as the parade’s Grand Marshal is a great honor.

“I ordered a brand new set of dress blues for this,” Richards said. “But the pants haven’t come in yet. That could be a problem.”

Richards is also a recipient of the Purple Heart.

Richard Pries, commander of Kingston American Legion Black Diamond Post 395, and Commander Terry Acker of Kingston VFW Anthracite Post 283 are co-chairs of the event.

“The response so far has been great,” Pries said.

The parade begins at Kingston Corners and ends at the Forty Fort Cemetery, where their will be a ceremony featuring guest speaker Don Williams, whose family has marched in every one of the 130 Wyoming Valley Veterans Memorial Day parades.

Richards doesn’t talk much about his time in Vietnam, but he did offer a brief account of what happened in the war.

Richards said he was a team chief with the U.S. Marine Corps unit. He said the unit was ambushed and one of his men was hit by enemy fire.

“I went back and grabbed him and I got hit in the head,” Richards said. “I still grabbed him and drug him down a hill where we were both grabbed by some corpsmen.”

What Richards didn’t know at the time was that the man he dragged to safety had died.

According to the U.S. Department of Defense:

The Silver Star is the third-highest military combat decoration that can be awarded to a member of the United States Armed Forces.

It is awarded for gallantry in action:

• While engaged in action against an enemy of the United States;

• While engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or

• While serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.

Richards doesn’t like being called a hero and he quickly tells you why.

“The man I tried to save that day and all the others who gave the ultimate sacrifice, they are the real heroes,” Richards said. “And that’s what Memorial Day is all about — remembering them all.”

Parade details

The parade will start at Kingston Corners at 10:30 a.m. and proceed north on Market Street to the Forty Fort Cemetery where the annual ceremony will take place.

Pries said all participants must check-in at Kingston Corners to participate.

“All participants must line up at Kingston Corners,” Pries said. “No groups or individuals will be allowed to step in at the Kingston/Forty Fort line.”

Guest speaker Don Williams and his family have been marching in the parade for the last 121 years.

“Who better knows the meaning of this somber holiday than Don Williams?” Pries noted. “We couldn’t think of any.”

Williams, 65, has photos going back to the early days of this parade and its traditions.

Pries said the parade will consist of many groups and organizations that have participated in the past and some new organizations will be represented.

“Remember why we hold this parade,” Pries said. “We honor our fallen brothers and sisters.”

In 2020, Williams and his sister, Diana LeVasseur, were presented an award from the Kingston American Legion honoring them and thanking the family for generations of participation in the annual parade, beginning in 1891.

The 2020 Wyoming Valley Memorial Day parade was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Commander Pries called the Williams family “one of the most patriotic families you will ever find,” and with good reason.

Don Williams offered this information on his family’s participation in the West Side Memorial Day Parade:

• Edward C. Williams, Don and Diana’s great-grandfather, carried a Civil War fife for 70 consecutive years in the Wyoming Valley Memorial Day Parade and a member of the family has carried it every year since.

• Their grandfather, Samuel Williams, participated for several years until he moved out of the area.

• Their father, Donald Williams, first marched in 1952 and last participated in 2012 — a 60-year run.

• Don will hit 40 straight years of marching in the parade in 2021.

• Don’s three children — Lauren, Lisa and Bryan (5th generation) — have participated over the years, playing the trumpet, drums and, yes, that Civil War fife.

• Don’s sister, Diana LeVasseur and her husband, Dennis, and their son, Andrew, have also participated in the parade for years.

All in all, five generations and 130 years of patriotic participation in honoring America’s fallen heroes.

“That’s why I will be there every year,” Williams said.

Williams began marching with his dad at every parade starting in 1982, first playing the drums and then later the fife. His last year playing the fife was in 2005, and the last time he dressed and marched was 2012. As a side note: Williams’ dad was born on Flag Day and died one day short of Veterans Day.

So what does Memorial Day mean to Williams and his family?

Williams said many years ago, a reporter was asking his dad about his military service after the parade and what it felt like to be a hero. He said his dad’s answer was polite, but quick and direct.

Paraphrasing his dad’s response, Williams said the answer to the question went something like, “In my mind, the heroes are the ones that didn’t come home. We are here to honor them today.”

Williams said he marches out of sincere respect for the three generations that preceded him and to continuing honoring the heroes that did not come home.

Williams also noted that all five of his mother’s brothers served in the military — two in the Marines, two in the Navy, and one in the Air Force. Three were in WWII, one did not make it home — killed by a Japanese mortar shell in March 1944 and buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Williams said his message will be a tribute to the fallen heroes of all wars and to “never forget.”

“I also march in their memory,” Williams said.