Assemblyman Will Barclay (R,C,I--Pulaski) recently presented an Assembly Resolution to Alan “Dick” Deline of Fulton, who was honored as the 2016 Veteran of the Year by the Fulton Veterans Council. Earlier this year, the New York State Assembly unanimously passed the resolution (K916) honoring Deline for his military service and for his service to his community after being discharged. Deline joined the Marine Corps. Reserve, 10th Tank Battalion, and trained in Syracuse. Prior to his unit's activation at the start of the Korean War, Deline played the trumpet in the Marine Corps Band. He was sent to the West Coast for 60 days of advanced infantry training, during which time he anticipated a deployment, but was sent back to the East Coast where he continued to play in the Marine Corps Band for two years until his honorable discharge. He then completed additional education and joined the United States Army for two enlistments. During those six years he proudly served in the United States and Germany, becoming a crime scene investigator at just 23 years old. For his courageous service, Deline earned the State of New York Medal for Merit, National Defense Service Medal and the Army Commendation Medal, among others. Following the completion of his military service, Deline traveled the world for eight months before earning a Bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University in Police Administration and a Bachelor’s degree in Public Justice from SUNY Oswego, where he graduated cum laude. Deline continued his studies in the graduate division of SUNY Oswego with a major in Education. A true lifelong learner, Deline attended the FBI Academy in Virginia in 1999, studying forensic science and criminal profiling. He also completed a homicide investigation course in Miami, and became a member of a Homicide Task Force in 2013, which works on cold case homicides once a year in various locations across the country. He currently serves as the City of Fulton’s Fire and Police Commissioner.

In photo (from the left): Norm Lagowski, Donna Kestner, Assemblyman Will Barclay, Alan Deline, Rev. Moritz Fuchs, Dick Clark, and Gary Visconti.