Joseph W. Sharpe, a 101-year-old Bend resident who spent 28 years in the U.S. Army, is serving as grand marshal of Bend's Veterans Day parade, which starts at 11 a.m. Wednesday in the city. Sharpe's military career spanned World War II and the Korean War, touching theaters in both Europe and Asia from 1943 through 1971, when he retired as a sergeant major.
Sharpe's selection as grand marshal was announced by KTVZ, which reported that Central Oregon Veterans Outreach produces the parade with support from title sponsor Mid Oregon Credit Union and the City of Bend. According to Bend Bulletin, Sharpe spent his Army years working as a stevedore, military policeman and honor guard member, duties that took him from the English Channel coast to military bases in Japan.
From a Mill Town to the Front Lines
Sharpe was born in 1925 in Eden, North Carolina, then known as Leaksville, per the same account. He graduated early from high school at just 16 years old, then spent two years at historically Black school North Carolina A&T before being drafted on Dec. 23, 1943, the outlet reports.
Sharpe initially trained as a stevedore, loading and unloading ships bound for the fighting forces stationed in Britain who were planning for D-Day. He was then sent to Cherbourg, France, where he served as a camp guard at a prisoner-of-war facility, unloaded supply ships and loaded C-47 planes, the station's report notes. KTVZ separately reported that his wartime responsibilities included moving wounded soldiers to safety during the 1944 D-Day invasion.
After Germany surrendered in the spring of 1945, Sharpe was sent to the South Pacific, and he was stationed in Batangas City in the Philippines when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, according to the same report.
A Career Shaped by Integration
It wasn't until 1948, when President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981 banning racial segregation and discrimination in the U.S. military, that Sharpe decided to make a career out of his service, the report states. The order, according to the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library, declared a policy of equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services, without regard to race, color, religion or national origin.
Sharpe went on to serve as a military policeman in New York City and on military bases in Japan. He completed his bachelor's degree through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, where he also met his wife of 66 years, Faye, per the same account. The couple married before Joseph was sent overseas in 1950 to serve in the Korean War.
Settling in Bend, Decades Later
After retiring from the Army in 1971, Sharpe went back to school and earned a master's degree in social sciences from North Carolina A&T, the outlet reports. He has lived in Bend since 2009, having moved there to be closer to family.
Sharpe's daughter, Kathy Sharpe-McCord, said she was glad her parents lived nearby and described them as encouraging of their children's education and good examples as parents, according to the same report.
The parade marks the 25th annual Bend Veterans Day event, as The Source reported, though accounts of the exact route differ: The Source described it as beginning on NW Harmon Boulevard and crossing the Veterans Memorial Bridge, while KLCC described it as beginning on Newport Avenue at the Veterans Memorial Bridge and ending near Drake Park.
Sharpe has said the parade recognition is an honor he greatly appreciates. He has also said that being drafted gave him purpose and a career, and that the military provided him and his wife lifelong medical benefits along with his retirement benefits. He has said his military service contributed to building the nation, and that the nation can improve if people work toward that.
