Twenty children sat in pairs outside Brown’s Shoe Fit Co. waving handmade American flags, waiting for the Veterans Day Parade to begin.
At 11 a.m. Tuesday, clapping began near the front of the parade as a single motorcycle led nine people carrying flags down Main Avenue. Floats carried aging veterans, marching bands played patriotic tunes, and the crowd waived mini American flags.
“It’s an acknowledgement of the service, sacrifice and dedication our service people have given us,” said Julia Jackson, a Durango resident watching the parade.
Veterans Day was created in 1919 by President Woodrow Wilson to commemorate the first anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended World War I. However, it was not called Veterans Day until 1954 under President Eisenhower in order to remember all veterans.
Veterans Day is “a celebration to honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good,” according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ website.
For Durango resident Steve Phillips, Veterans Day is “like Father’s Day and Mother’s Day,” he said. His father is a World War II and Korean War veteran, he said, and his mother sacrificed much while his father was away.
Bob Carlson, a Vietnam veteran who served in 1969, uses the day to pay tribute to all veterans. Fred Rusk, also a Durango resident, uses the day to remember his father, a WWII veteran who recently passed away at age 93.
Marilyn Rogers brought a group of home-schooled children to the parade in hopes of bringing awareness to why the American flag is to be honored. She also was honoring her father, a former Marine, her husband, who is in the Army, and her son, a Merchant Marine.
Anita Cohen of Durango marched with a group of veterans who are against the “next war.”
“We recognize people who have put their lives on the line for what we feel is important in the United States,” she said.
eseverson@durangoherald.com
