Rehoboth 5K a golden opportunity for military monument

REHOBOTH BEACH — Kristen Giordano has dedicated herself to recognizing military members who have died while serving.

So, she and family members are leading the Woody Williams Foundation’s initiative to raise funds for a local Gold Star Families Memorial Monument, organizing the Aug. 11 Pfc. Joseph “Dimps” Marquez Memorial 5K, named for her son.

Additionally, Ms. Giordano’s family will create and install a bench honoring Pfc. Marquez, a Sussex Technical High School graduate who died April 25, 2022, during U.S. Army instruction at the Yakima (Washington) Training Center.

Ms. Giordano and her father, Joseph Giordano, are honorary board members for the project, while her husband, Jean-Paul Blandin Jr., and her sons, Michael and Jason Giordano, are committee members.

Regarding the bench, which will include Pfc. Marquez’s name and photograph, “the biggest thing about it is I just want the memory of Joey to live on forever, so this marble, granite monument is going to be here long after I’m gone.”

“So, anything I can do to let people see that beautiful, smiling face and know who he was and what he stood for has just kind of (been) my life’s mission with everything — my work, the monument, everything.”

Ms. Giordano, who works as a community ambassador for Mission BBQ in Dover, said she’s focused on supporting everyone who has lost someone in the line of military duty.

“Nobody wants to be a Gold Star family, but I’ve just kind of embraced it as far as what (I can) do to raise awareness, support other Gold Star families, give them a place of comfort to go sit and look at this beautiful monument and be like ‘Wow.’”

The 5K starts and finishes at the Rehoboth Beach Mission BBQ location, 36470 Seaside Outlet Drive. Proceeds will support the monument, to be built at the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Millsboro. Pfc. Marquez’s bench will be situated nearby.

Registration for the 5K, which begins at 8 a.m., can be done at races2run.com or on the day of.

For information about the 5K, email sophia@races2run.com or visit raceroster.com .

For information on the monument, email Ms. Giordano at kmmamp@gmail.com or visit woodywilliams.org . Donations to the project can be made at hwwmohf.kindful.com.