Lower Gwynedd to Honor Veterans in 11th Annual Veterans Day Ceremony on Nov. 11

The Reporter Staff•

Lower Gwynedd Township will honor America’s veterans with its 11th annual ceremony on Veterans Day, Saturday, Nov. 11, from 10:30 a.m. to noon.

This year’s ceremony will again be held at Lower Gwynedd’s Veterans Memorial Park, at the intersection of North Bethlehem Pike and Penllyn Pike in Spring House.

The ceremony will take place rain or shine. In the event of rain or inclement weather, the ceremony will be held at the Lower Gwynedd Township Building, 1130 N. Bethlehem Pike, Spring House.

The ceremony will include remarks by veterans of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force and/or Coast Guard. Patriotic musical numbers will, again, be performed by the Wissahickon Middle School Marching Band and the Bethlehem Baptist Church Men’s Choir, along with the WHS Camerata.

Speakers scheduled to attend and speak include:

Ronald Ricks (R – Sergeant, U.S. Army). Ricks was on active duty from October, 1968 to July, 1970. After basic training at Fort Bragg, NC, and Quartermaster School at Fort Lee, VA, he served with the 1st Logistical Command, at Long Binh Post, the largest military installation in Vietnam, as a supervisor of the largest bakery at 1st Log. He received the Vietnam Service Medal W/6, Campaign Stars and Vietnam Campaign Medal W/60 Device. Ricks’ last duty station was Fort Campbell, KY. He then spent 40 years in sales and finance in the automobile industry, and now works, in Montgomery County, for the U.S. Dept. of Commerce. A Harleysville resident, he has served as Adjutant of American Legion Post 769 in Ambler for the past three years.

Thomas Campbell (R -Airman First Class, USAF). Campbell joined the Air Force in 1983. He served in the USAF’s 1964th Communications (Information Services) Group, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The 1964th Group’s mission included telephone, teletype, cryptographic/digital subscriber, secure voice communications, and long-range navigation operations within Germany. After his discharge in 1987, and working for a time on Wall Street, he went to work for the WSD, where he is employed as a Child Specific Assistant. Campbell comes from a military family, with his mother having served in the Army National Guard, his brother having served in the USAF, an uncle having served in the Army, and two uncles having served in the Marines. He resides in Ambler.

Paul T. Bradshaw, Esq. (R – Captain, JAG, U.S. Army). After graduating from Wheaton College, IL, which he attended on an ROTC scholarship, Bradshaw was commissioned a Second Lieutenant at Fort Riley, KS, in 1974. Following his commissioning, he took an educational delay to attend Penn law school, graduating in 1977. Promoted to Captain upon being accepted to the Army JAG Corps, Paul began active duty as a JAG officer in January, 1978, first attending the JAG officer basic course at the JAG school in Charlottesville, VA, and then was assigned to the JAG office at Fort McClellan, AL, where he served as a claims officer, prosecutor and defense counsel until leaving active duty in January, 1982. Following his military service, he has worked as an attorney, and currently serves as an Assistant Berks County Solicitor. He and his wife live in Montgomery Township.

Dr. Darren F. DeVoue (R – Captain, U.S. Army). Born and raised in Philadelphia, Dr. DeVoue started his military career in 1981, as a cadet, at California University of PA, where he received his undergraduate degree in psychology. He served in a simultaneous military program in the PA Army National Guard during his undergraduate college years. Upon his graduation from Cal-U, he was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant and assigned to the 2nd Armor Division, 2/5 Air Defense artillery Battalion, where he served in several leadership positions, including special operations. He received several promotions, and ultimately achieving the rank of Captain. In 1993, Dr. DeVoue resigned his commission, and started a life journey in corporate America. Today he serves as an executive advisor to Fortune 500 boards and senior executives across the globe for S-A-P, the world’s leading provider of business software, and has over 30 years of business consulting experience in the software industry. In 2017, he was nominated by Financial Times Magazine as one of the Top 100 Minorities in Business. Internationally. Dr. DeVoue has lectured at several universities and at various non-profit organizations. He served on the board of directors for "Our House”, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit; and the "Earth Rise” organization; he currently serves on the board of directors for the Foundation Fighting Blindness; and was elected to serve on the Executive Advisory Board at Rutgers University for Design Thinking. He is the current chairperson of the Trustee Ministry at Bethlehem Baptist Church and is the writer/producer/performer of BBC’s theme song, "Love God Serve People.” Dr. DeVoue earned his MBA from Eastern University, and a Doctorate in Management from the University of Phoenix. He is the self-professed master of the
blended family with four children and has resided in Montgomery County for 30-plus years.

Stephen Yusem (R – Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy). Yusem is a veteran of 40 years of Navy Reserve service as a Surface Warfare officer, with collateral duties in Coastal Warfare and Special Warfare. Yusem served in the Western Pacific, and as a flag officer was Deputy Commander, Combat Logistics Group Two, Deputy Commander Maritime Defense Zone Atlantic and Commander, Logistics Task Force Atlantic.

Dick Target (R – CPT, U.S. Marine Corps). Target served as a junior officer in the Marines with the 3rd Marines in Vietnam from 1968 – 1970. His Unit was involved in many different aspects of the Vietnam Conflict, including rescuing American and Canadian Pilots in North Vietnam Prisoner of War camps.

Also participating will be veterans from Ambler’s Daniel W. Dowling American Legion Post 769.

Immediately following the ceremony, several local restaurants, including Arpeggio BYOB, Fireside Bar and Grille, Il Giardino Italian Cuisine, Spring House Tavern, Vic Sushi and Wawa, will provide complimentary "Taste of Lower Gwynedd” refreshment, at the nearby seven-foot-high metal "Wreath of Honor” sculpture, dedicated in 2006.

All township residents, and neighbors from surrounding Montgomery and Bucks County municipalities, as well as all veterans and their families, are invited and encouraged to attend the ceremony. Free parking will be provided.

Visit the township’s website www.lowergwynedd.org for information on possible ceremony relocation.

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