By Allen D. Payton

During Antioch’s annual Veterans Day ceremony on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, Veterans of the Year honors were bestowed on Bob Franchetto and Rick Diaz.  Having both served in the U.S. Army, Franchetto was honored as the 2025-26 Veteran of the Year for Lifetime Achievement and Diaz as the 2025-26 Veteran of the Year. They were each presented with plaques and jackets with their names and titles embroidered on, provided by Smith’s Landing Seafood Grill.

Community Awards for Veteran Supports were presented to Favalora Trucking in the Business category, GFWC Antioch Woman’s Club in the Club category and Snug as a Bug in the Non-Profit category, who presented each honoree with a hand-made quilt.

The day began with a Pancake Breakfast hosted by the Antioch Rivertown Veterans Lions Club followed by the ceremony, led by organizer J.R. Wilson, President of the Delta Veterans Group and held near the Antioch Veterans Memorial at the Marina. U.S. Army Veteran Bill Swenson offered the Opening Prayer.

The Deer Valley High School Junior ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps) presented the Colors, Raising of the Flag was conducted by the Antioch Police Department Honor Guard and the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Rocko Jeremy of the U.S. Coast Guard.

The National Anthem was sung by Bella Rose of the DVHS Jr. ROTC and the Antioch High and Deer Valley High School Marching Bands performed the Armed Forces Medley.

Retired U.S. Army SFC Ronnie McGee was the keynote speaker, followed by Youth Speaker Armando Morales, Executive Officer of the Deer Valley High School Jr. ROTC.

Congressman Josh Harder (D-CA9) also spoke during the ceremony. He hopes to represent Antioch if re-elected next year in the newly redrawn congressional district approved by the recent passage of Prop. 50.

Other elected officials in attendance included Antioch Mayor Pro Tem and District 2 Councilman Louie Rocha and District 5 Contra Costa County Supervisor Shanelle Scales-Preston who both spoke, as well as District 3 Councilman Don Freitas, City Clerk Michael Mandy and Antioch School Board Vice President and Area 5 Trustee Mary Rocha.

The ceremony was followed by the Veterans Day Parade on W. 2nd Street which paused in front of El Campanil Theatre at 11:11 a.m. as its historic bell rang 11 times in honor of Armistice Day, later renamed Veterans day, and the end of World War I at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.

“El Campanil did great, again with the ringing of the bell,” Wilson said later.

The parade was followed by a lunch hosted by and at the Antioch Veterans of Foreign Wars John McMullen Post 6435.

the attachments to this post:

Snug as a Bug award 11-11-25 LRocha

Bob Franchetto & Ricky Diaz Vets of the Year 2025-26

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 13th, 2025 at 5:37 pm and is filed under Community, Holiday, Honors & Awards, Military & Veterans, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.