RVC prepares for Memorial Day parade

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Hundreds of village residents will line up along Long Beach Road on Monday to watch the annual Memorial Day Parade and honor Rockville Centre residents who died while serving their country.

The parade, which was rained out last year, will step off at 10 a.m. and follow the same route as recent years. Starting at South Side High School, it will march west on Sheperd Street, then head south on Long Beach Road before stopping at the John A. Anderson Recreation Centre at 111 Oceanside Road.

Village firefighters, police officers and community representatives are among those expected to march in the parade.

Veteran Daniel Brandi will be the grand marshal of the parade. The 86-year-old Oceanside resident and former Rockville Centre police sergeant said he was “surprised” when asked by American Legion 303 Commander Frank Colon Jr. to lead the march.

“It’s a high honor,” Brandy said. “I was overwhelmed.”

Brandi joined the U.S. Navy in 1948 at the age of 17. During the Korean War, Brandi completed three tours of duty serving as a Gunner’s Mate aboard the USS St. Paul 73 Heavy Cruiser. He spent 17 months in battle and took part in the Battle of Wonsan Harbor, which was the longest naval siege in American military history.

Brandi is a highly-decorated veteran who has received such honors at the Presidential Unit Citation, the Korean Service Medal with eight battle stars, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Korean War Medal, the National Defense Medal, the United Nations Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the China Service Medal and the Occupation Medal-Asia.

He went on to become the president of the New York /Long Island chapter of the Chosin Few, an organization of combatants of the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea in November and December of 1950.

Brandi joined the village’s police department in the mid-1950’s and spent 22 years with the agency before retiring as a sergeant. He was later employed as a security guard for the Rockville Centre School District and helped Nassau County implement training programs for its security agents.

Memorial Day is always a special time of remembrance for Brandi.

“The young men and women that didn’t come back, they’re heroes,” he said. “They’re the people that did the job. The reason for that day is strictly for the people that gave the ultimate sacrifice.”