THE FOURTH annual Manchester Veterans Day parade was held on November 19. People lined the city streets in honor of those who have served. This year’s parade theme was “A Salute to Military Service Animals.” According to VFW Post 10904’s commander, Kim King, she wanted to highlight the many animals that serve in the United States Military.
“It’s not just dogs that serve. We’ve had horses, seals, pigeons, and even camels that have been instrumental in battle,” said King.
The parade welcomed a large crowd ready to show their patriotism and support of local and area veterans. King said the annual parade offers them a chance to share the love of America with the community.
“We had an enormous turnout and have continued to have a great turnout,” she said. “I think it’s because the public really wants to do these things and show their appreciation and patriotic support. We don’t really have a lot of venues where they can do that, and this allows them to do that, especially with children and groups, such as the boy and girl scouts.”
King also added that the importance of the parade is even more significant because before the current parade, there was nothing like it that honored veterans.
“We realized there was no parade that we knew of that had ever happened in Manchester,” she explained. “I went to City Hall, and they couldn’t recall if there had ever been a Veterans Day parade, so we decided to put one together. I got together with a friend of mine, Ray Cobb. He was putting together the Veterans Day parade in Winchester. They had not had one in over 40 years. He and I worked together to get their parade pulled off, and in the meantime, we decided we would try to put on our parade.”
King said that as veterans, they want to be able to support each other while educating the public on the importance of such events.
“Veterans always want to promote patriotism and why the country is important to the public,” she explained. “That seems very important because if you think about it, how many things do you have that do that? Not a lot. What you do is you use your holidays, like Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Patriots Day, and these kinds of things, to try to promote why the country is so worth the sacrifice that veterans are willing to put forth for it. And it’s not just veterans. There are a lot of very patriotic people in the country. This gives us a chance to promote that on a scale.”
King also added that parade participation is not limited to just veterans. She invites the public to not only view the parade but be a part of it.
“We want the public to be involved,” she said. “Some of our post members dress up as historical military figures, such as George Patton and Douglas McArthur. The Sam Werner Military Museum brings out its military vehicles and allows us to ride them in the parade. The ladies dress up as Rosie the Riveter. We invite any female who wants to do this whether they are a veteran or not.”
She said they plan to do an Armed Forces Day parade in June. “They’ve done them in Murfreesboro and Nashville with great success. We hope to see the same success and turn out here in Manchester,” King said. GN
