The grand marshal of Monday’s Memorial Day parade in Gilroy is Korean War veteran Robert Diaz, who served two tours of duty with the Marine Corps.
“I enjoy the parade and have watched it every year,” said the Gilroy native and commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6309. “It’s a real honor.”
Diaz has been a regular at the parade and he’s humble about serving his country.
“It was the right thing to do,” he said of his decision to enlist in 1951. He joined his brother and other Gilroy classmates in military service.
During the war, Diaz worked as a photographer and lab technician, producing maps that were used by fighter pilots to locate enemy targets.
Still reticent to share details of his military service decades later, Diaz said specially modified planes fitted with cameras would leave base in the early morning hours to take pictures of enemy territory. Returning some hours later, Diaz and his team would develop and print the film. The images were then used to create detailed maps of enemy targets.
Diaz’s two tours were from 1951-1952 and 1953-1954.
He was discharged at Treasure Island and within months, met his wife, Teresa.
“I got out in March, met my wife in June and got married in July,” he said.
They would go on to be married for 42 years, raising four children together. When he returned from the Marine Corps, Diaz worked in the local canneries.
“Everyone worked in the canneries,” he said. Diaz later worked at the FMC plant for 19 years before retiring.
Teresa passed away and Diaz lives with his son Gary and grandchildren, Teresa and Garon—a soon-to-be Gilroy High School graduate who has already voiced interest in joining the military.
On Monday, his family will join thousands of spectators as they watch Diaz, escorted by the VFW honor guard, lead the solemn Memorial Day procession.
“Our family is always there,” Diaz said.
