By Hunter Hine, Staff Writer

Now age 97, Morris Semiatin still wears his Purple Heart medal on a chain around his neck.

He earned it in World War II after a hand grenade went off in his foxhole while fighting on Iwo Jima. There he served as a rocketeer in the 28th Regiment of the 5th Marine Division.

For the past few years, Morris’ son Ben has put on several major celebrations for his father’s birthday, and this year he has planned two events that stand to top the rest.

Morris’ 97th birthday is today, and later  he and Ben will attend dinner at a yet-to-be-revealed fine dining restaurant in downtown Ocean City. This will mark the 100th restaurant in the area where the two have dined since they started the tradition back in November 2020.

“They’re going to have a big welcoming for us at the front with balloons and singing, and then we’re going to have a big dinner. The mayor might be there,” Ben said.

The name of the restaurant won’t be announced until Ben posts the signature picture of his father eating, which commemorates all of their restaurant exploits on the 28,400 member Facebook group called Ocean City COOLEST! Ben documents all their shared meals on the page.

To follow it up, a parade honoring Morris will be held in the parking lot of Berlin Intermediate School on June 3. Participants begin lining up at 11 a.m. and start moving through the lot at 11:30 a.m.

Groups set to show out in the parade include the Color Guard, American Legion Post #166 riders, Hogs and Heroes and a special group of Marines from all across the East Coast who will come walk past Morris and salute him in uniform as he sits and watches the parade.

“There’s a half circle in front of the school. Everyone’s going to line up in the half circle, then they’re going to come out of the half circle going on Franklin Avenue for about 10 feet and then go into the parking lot, and then once they go to the parking lot they’re going to go straight up the parking lot,” Ben said. “He’ll (Morris) be on the right-hand side sitting under one of the tents that the Marines will supply.”

A group of resident’s from Morris’ senior living home will also be bussed to the parade.

There may be a visit from a special well-known guest, but Ben can’t release their name because the guest isn’t sure whether or not they can make it.

All are welcome to come see the parade, and Ben encourages anyone attending to bring an American flag or a Marine flag to wave. He asked that people don’t bring balloons so they are not lost and cause pollution.

Members of the Berlin Police Department are helping control traffic for the event.

“I’m fascinated with what’s going on,” Morris said through chuckles.

Morris grew up in Baltimore City and moved to Silver Spring with his family in 1951 where he worked as a commercial photographer taking pictures of White House visitors. His career spanned from 1958 to 1985, photographing all the presidential administrations during that period, Ben said.

Along the way, Morris made some notable friends, including Muhammad Ali, and appeared in photographs with the Kennedys, Lyndon B. Johnson and Star Trek lead William Shatner. He even took personal portraits of Ronald and Nancy Reagan.

Ben moved to Ocean City in 2016 for retirement, while Morris continued living alone at his house in Kensington, but Ben kept up with weekly visits.

“Every week was a 300-mile round trip which was pretty far to see him every week,” Ben said.

As Morris grew older and required closer care, Ben decided to move him to Gull Creek Senior Living Community in Berlin in 2020, where he now resides.

On the first Thanksgiving of covid, Ben ordered two take-out turkey dinners from Denny’s so he and Morris could share a socially-distant Thanksgiving meal. Ben sat and ate from the sidewalk while Morris sat and ate from his balcony.

“We were in the middle covid and he could not leave the retirement home. He was restricted to his room. It was getting really bad then, and I didn’t want him to spend Thanksgiving by himself,” Ben said “We’ve never been apart on Thanksgiving.”

A passer-by took their picture, and they went viral online, Ben said.

As covid restrictions in the retirement home relaxed, Ben continued taking his father to different restaurants around town, and thus began the mission to try as many different places as they could.

“What I do every week is on our Facebook page, or Ocean City COOLEST, I post a picture of him eating the meal. Then I post a picture of the meals and then the menu and we put them on our page and people in town love it,” Ben said. “They say they plan their entire week’s vacation around our postings.”

Since then Morris has become something of a local celebrity, recently being featured in a segment on WBOC’s DelmarvaLife.

The first time Ben held a parade for his father, Morris still lived in Kensington. Ben organized for firetrucks and police cars to drive by Morris’ house, and all the neighbors came out to watch.

The next year Ben had a parade drive by the retirement home, but covid restrictions kept participants low.

Last year Ben went to the Boardwalk and invited people to come see Morris, but only about 10 people showed up, Ben said.

“But this year they said there’s no covid restrictions. Go crazy. Have all the spectators you want, all the groups you want, but make sure you get a big enough space that can accommodate it,” Ben said.

Ben noticed that the Berlin Intermediate parking lot would serve as a perfect venue, and it’s just across Route 113 from the senior home.

As for inviting groups to be in the parade, Ben sent out emails and phone calls, Google searching for every Marine Chapter up and down the East Coast.

With Morris having lived three years at Gull Creek, Ben is beginning to run out of funds to keep him there, so two months ago he started an Instagram for Morris with a Go Fund Me page linked to it. He hopes to crowd source funding in order to continue housing Morris at Gull Creek.

“Please donate to keep this World War II veteran living comfortably in Gull Creek Senior Living home. If you can do it,” Ben said.

To keep up with the Semiatins’ restaurant adventures, visit www.facebook.com/groups/499413634930610. To see his Instagram visit www.instagram.com/awesomedad_ocmd/. The Go Fund Me page is linked in the bio, and can be found at www.gofundme.com/f/5th-marines-division-iwo-jima-purple-heart-hero?member=23788359&sharetype=teams&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer.