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Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon conduct Memorial Day programs

4 min read
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Rocky Bleier

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Thomas Gleason

Bethel Park and Mt. Lebanon will conduct special Memorial Day events to bring public awareness and remembrance to those who gave their lives for freedom and sacrificed for their country.

This year marks the 10th anniversary ceremony at the Mt. Lebanon Veterans Memorial located off Cedar Boulevard. Activities begin at 8:30 a.m. on May 30.

Vietnam veteran Rocky Bleier will be the keynote speaker. A Mt. Lebanon resident and Notre Dame product, Bleier earned the Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for his military service before going on to play in four Super Bowls for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Senior District Judge Blaise Latrotonda will deliver the opening remarks while the Rev. Douglas M. Heagy from the Mt. Lebanon United Lutheran Church will give the invocation and benediction.

The Mt. Lebanon High School Marching Band will perform “Main Street America,” arranged by Gary Gilroy. Tyler Dean and Sawyer Delehanty will play “Taps,” and the Mt. Lebanon Fire Department will participate in the Placing of the Wreath ceremony.

Mt. Lebanon had 79 service members killed in action, including a dozen during the Vietnam era and one from the Gulf War.

Bethel Park American Legion’s annual parade and cemetery service will feature remarks from Thomas P. Gleason.

Events commence at 7:50 a.m. May 30 at the Veterans Memorial Plaza in front of the municipal building, 5100 W. Library Ave.

Additional names will be added to the over 3,500 already in place on the memorial representing those from the American Revolution to today.

Following the ceremony, a parade will begin at the municipal building and end at Bethel Cemetery, adjacent to Bethel Presbyterian Church on Bethel Church Road.

A Memorial Day service will be held immediately after the parade.

Born and raised in The Bronx in New York City, Gleason graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in the class of 1980. He was commissioned as an infantry second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

Over the course of a 21-year career in the Army, he held command and staff positions in the 7th Infantry Division, 82d Airborne Division, and the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). He served at various Army posts around the United States, with deployments to Panama, Korea and the Middle East.

After retiring in 2001 as a lieutenant colonel, he taught social studies at Hampton High School in the North Hills, retiring from that position in 2020. He is married, and he and his wife, Keely, live in Bethel Park and have a daughter, Alexis.

Gleason is a member of American Legion Post 760 in Bethel Park and the South Hills veterans Honor Guard.

To participate in the parade, contact Scott Barber, American Legion Post 760 Commander, at wstreet1@gmail.com or 727-453-9025.

In addition to Bethel Park, several South Hills communities will conduct Memorial Day parades on May 30:

Dormont and Mt. Lebanon join forces for the South Hills Memorial Day Parade, which starts at 10 a.m. on Brookline Boulevard and proceeds to Pioneer Avenue through Dormont and arrives at the Mt. Lebanon Cemetery where services will begin at 11:30 a.m.

The parade is led by the Mt. Lebanon Police Color guard and includes marching bands, fire apparatus, Scout troops, twirlers and dance troupes, Shriners, and of course, veterans.

Peters Township’s annual event begins at 9 a.m. The route begins at the old middle school located at 631 E. McMurray Rd. and ends at the VFW Post 764 on Valley Brook Road.

South Fayette and Bridgeville combine for a parade that begins at 10 a.m. along Washington Avenue and travels along Washington Pike from State Street in Bridgeville to Melrose Cemetery in South Fayette (adjacent to Warhol Funeral Home.

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