Photo By Sgt. Laura Bonano | Veterans salute American flags as they pass by during the Annual Veterans Day parade,...... read more read more
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Veterans and military supporters, in Fort Wayne, Ind., gathered to participate in the Annual Veterans Day parade, the morning of Nov. 9, to honor those who have served and are still serving in all branches of the military.
Old and young faces spanned the sea of those in the parade, a real life slideshow of service members proud to be in the parade and carry the nation’s flag. Participants served in past wars such as Vietnam and Desert Storm, as well as the War in Iraq and Afghanistan. Boy Scout troops, various groups from different chapters of Veterans of Foreign Wars and other organizations joined the festivities.
One face in the crowd watching the parade showed a smile but also tears.
Dawn McGillivray, a resident of Fort Wayne, said she walked the three miles from her home, to the parade every year to honor her three sons. She comes from a long line of military service members. Her father was a Marine, her grandfather was in the Navy during the World Wars, and even one great grandfather served in the Revolutionary War.
“It means the world to me,” said McGillivray in response to what it meant to attend the parade every year. She currently has a son stationed at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, who has been gone since September and two other sons stationed in Japan.
“Anyone who serves in the service, whatever branch it is, makes a big sacrifice and they deserve our respect and our thanks,” said McGillivray.
Retired Airman, Max Robison, who was deployed with the 122nd Fighter Wing when the Berlin Wall went up, was humbled to be in the parade. He was there to represent the Honor Flight, an organization that escorts Veterans to visit the memorials in Washington, D.C. Robison didn’t have much to say about his actual service, to him it wasn’t about his accomplishments.
“I think it’s more to honor the other Veterans than anything I did, I didn’t do much,” said Robison, who served in France as a radiology technician.
Wave after wave of red white and blue flags flashed by, but the many faces filled with memories, memories of loved ones away for years, and those lost forever, were far more colorful than any float going by this day.
| Date Taken: | 11.09.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 11.18.2013 16:41 |
| Story ID: | 116957 |
| Location: | FORT WAYNE, IN, US |
| Hometown: | FORT WAYNE, IN, US |
| Web Views: | 37 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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