History of The Crossmen

​The Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps was founded on October 1, 1974, by a merger of two suburban Philadelphia drum and bugle corps, the Keystone Regiment and the 507 Hornets. The name "Crossmen" was chosen, from a list of 43 proposed names, by the members of the new corps in recognition of American Legion Post 507, which was named in honor of World War I veteran John Welsey Cross. Beginning in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, the corps has, over the years, been based in several other communities. Their longest stays were in West Chester, Pennsylvania and Newark, Delaware.

The Crossmen were competitively successful from the start, winning the Eastern States (drum corps) Circuit Championship from 1975 to 1981. In 1977, the corps won the American Legion Junior D&B National Championship in Denver ("Nationals"). In 1981, they won the VFW Nationals in Philadelphia.

In the winter of 1996, the corps became one of the programs sponsored by Youth Education in the Arts (YEA!). As a member of YEA!, the corps was then based in Allentown, PA. In the autumn of 2006, the corps relocated to San Antonio and separated from YEA! in late August 2007.

The Crossmen have been DCI Top Twelve Finalists twenty-nine (29) times; the first time in 1977, the latest in 2019.