Sgt. 1st Class Scott Dickinson, a Kannapolis-based U.S. Army recruiter and Iraq War veteran, will deliver the keynote address Friday at the annual Veterans Day observance sponsored by the Rowan County Veteran Council.
The 10 a.m. observance at the W.G. (Bill) Hefner VA Medical Center is part of a day of local events honoring veterans.
The first of two parades will step off at 1 p.m. at the VA Medical Center and will traverse the campus. Participants will then line up Stallings Memorial Baptist Church on South Main Street, with more vehicles added at Harrison Street.
Beginning at 2:30 p.m., the parade will travel north on Main Street and conclude at Kerr Street.
Both parades will include bands, floats, military vehicles, pageant queens and more.
Dickinson, who will speak at the 10 a.m. ceremony, is a native of Towanda, Penn. He joined the U.S. Army in 1998 as a crew member on a M1A1 Abrams tank. Since then, he has served in with armored units in Germany, Fort Riley, Kan., and Fort Knox, Ky. and at recruiting stations in Syracuse, N.Y., and Kannapolis.
In April 2003, while serving with the 1-13th Armored Battalion, Dickinson was deployed to Iraq. He spent 13 months as a tank gunner on a M1A1 Abrams battle tank in downtown Baghdad.
He “patrolled the streets daily with his tank crew and assisted in capturing numerous insurgents who were plotting terrorist attacks against the U.S. and coalition forces throughout the city,” his biography says.
Dickinson’s awards include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism and Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medals and the Army Service Medal.
Also at the observance, the Veteran Council will announce the veteran of the year, chaplain of the year and service officer of the year.
After the ceremony, VFW Post 3006 on Brenner Avenue, across the VA Medical Center, will host a barbecue lunch.