St. Joseph honors veterans with parade through Downtown
By Cameron Montemayor
The red, white and blue of the American flag flew strong as community members lined the streets for this year’s Veterans Day Parade on Monday.
Residents, veterans, active military, law enforcement and first responders all joined together on a cool and sunny morning to honor history and the generations of men and women who have served in the armed forces.
The route began Downtown at 10th and Francis streets before heading west on Francis to Eighth Street, north to Jules and then to Frederick before circling back to City Hall.
Parade organizer and 22-year Army veteran Marlin “Lee” England was proud to see the growing number of people in attendance for this year’s parade and is excited for what the future could hold for future events.
“The Veterans Day parade here was awesome,” said England, a member of VFW Post No. 1668 and a veteran of Desert Storm and Somalia. “We started out a couple of years ago and had maybe 20 vehicles in here. Now we’re really happy, so now maybe next year we’ll actually go on a longer route.”
England is one of many involved with the Joint Veterans Committee responsible for helping organize the parade and other remembrance events for 9/11 and Memorial Day.
Marching bands and JROTC programs with Central, Benton and Lafayette high schools led the way with music and ceremonial salutes, followed by a variety of floats and riders representing area Veterans of Foreign Wars posts and branches of the military.
Other military support organizations like the Marine Corps League rode through with veterans and family members proudly wearing the traditional scarlet and gold.
Joseph St. Clair, a 34-year Army veteran and member of VFW Post No. 1668, took time to renew the long-held tradition of passing out red poppies, a symbol that began more than 100 years ago to remember soldiers who died in World War I.
“I proudly served, but I want to continue to serve,” said St. Clair, who was deployed five times for combat over the course of his career. “Any time we have parades like this or other veterans events, I like to support them. So it was a very big honor to be here today.”
The parade also gave St. Clair and other VFW members the chance to connect with fellow veterans and highlight support services and benefits offered through local posts and other organizations.
In St. Clair’s view, despite the political divide that exists across the country, Veterans Day provides a powerful opportunity for people to look beyond those differences and remember the liberties that generations of veterans fought to preserve.
“I’ve served with people who have given their lives for people to vote and to have those differences. I’ve been to 19 different countries around the world and many of them you don’t have that privilege,” St. Clair said. “So if we can instill in the younger generation that knowledge going forward, hopefully they won’t forget that’s why America is free.”
