Junior Reserve Officer Traing Corps member and Wareham High School senior Joel D'Olimpia has been named as grand marshal escort for this year's Veterans Day parade on Nov. 11.

D'Olimpia will march alongside the military vehicle that will transport the parade's grand marshal Phillip Strawn, an 83-year-old Korean War veteran and Wareham resident.

Last Thursday, D'Olimpia met Strawn, who stopped by D'Olimpia's JROTC classroom at the high school. The two got the opportunity to sit down and talk for about an hour. Strawn told D'Olimpia about his Korean War army tour during the 1950s, his experiences in basic training and his adventures hitchhiking home to Wareham during his leave.

D'Olimpia told Strawn about his interest in going into the Air Force after he graduates and his future plans to learn how to be a drone mechanic while in the Air Force.

“You'll learn different things there,” Strawn told D'Olimpia. “There're no questions. It's a big learning experience. It's a lot of growing up, those two years I spent in the military.”

Although the two are generations apart, D'Olimipa and Strawn found common ground in talking about the military's ability to compensate higher education costs for service members. D'Olimpia said low-cost education opportunities was one of the things that drew him to JROTC, while Strawn remembered his G.I. bill funded education at Boston University.

The JROTC program has also introduced D’Olimpia to community service in the area. He has participated in pulling shrubs at the recycling center, distributing Thanksgiving meals and coordinating with the Toys for Tots Foundation in December.

After D’Olimpia graduates in the spring, he plans to hike the entire Appalachian Trail with his father. Once he returns, he will begin basic training with the Air Force.

The Veterans Day parade will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 11. The parade will start at Besse Park and end on Viking Drive.