Veterans celebrated at annual parade in downtown Durango

Friday, Nov 11, 2022 3:04 PM Updated Friday, Nov. 11, 2022 4:01 PM

Hundreds turn out for Main Avenue commemoration

Durango’s Veterans of Foreign Wars’ Color Guard leads the Veterans Day Parade on Friday in downtown Durango where hundreds gathered to clap and cheer for area veterans young and old. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

People line up on Main Avenue to show their support for the veterans in the Veterans Day Parade on Friday in downtown Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Participants in the Veterans Day Parade on Friday make their way up Main Avenue. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Durango Fire Protection District participated in the Veterans Day Parade on Friday in downtown Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Participants in the Veterans Day Parade on Friday make their way up Main Avenue. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

The Al Kaly Shriners Tin Lizzies zip around Main Avenue during the Veterans Day Parade on Friday in downtown Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Participants in the Veterans Day Parade on Friday make their way up Main Avenue. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

The La Plata County Sheriff’s Office participates in the Veterans Day Parade on Friday in downtown Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

The The Al Kaly Shriners Tin Lizzies zip around Main Avenue during the Veterans Day Parade on Friday in downtown Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Cub Scout Pack 502 walk in the Veterans Day Parade on Main Avenue on Friday in downtown Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Durango Girl Scouts were popular in the Veterans Day Parade on Friday as they hand out candy. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Knights of Columbus walk in the Veterans Day Parade on Main Avenue on Friday in downtown Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Vets Against the Next War participate the Veterans Day Parade on Friday in downtown Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Durango Girl Scouts were popular in the Veterans Day Parade on Friday as they hand out candy. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Durango Girl Scouts walk in the Veterans Day Parade on Friday in downtown Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Durango Fire Protection District participates in the Veterans Day Parade on Friday in downtown Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Blue Star Mothers of America Durango Chapter walk in the Veterans Day Parade on Friday in downtown Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

The Durango High School Red Pride Marching Band play their way up Main Avenue during the Veterans Day Parade on Friday in downtown Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

A Durango Police Department cruiser leads the Durango Foreign Wars color guard at the start the Veterans Day Parade on Friday in downtown Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Participants in the Veterans Day Parade on Friday make their way up Main Avenue. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Hundreds of Durango-area residents gathered Friday along Main Avenue for the annual Veterans Day Parade organized by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4031.

The American Legion, Al Kaly Shriners’ Tin Lizzies, the Durango Elks Lodge and other groups also mobilized for the event.

Veterans and their families lined sidewalks on Main Avenue ahead of the parade that started shortly after 11 a.m.

David Bachman, who served in the Navy during the Vietnam War from 1973 to 1978 and the start of the Iran-Iraq War, was among those in attendance.

In one word, he described what Veterans Day means to him: “Freedom.”

“I was either going to get drafted or enlist,” he said. “I actually went and enlisted so I could choose what I wanted to do.”

Carl Swanson and his grandson Asa Kane attended and marched in the parade advocating for peace over warfare. Swanson carried a construction paper sign with “No More Wars” scribbled across it.

Spectators line up Friday on Main Avenue in downtown Durango to show support for veterans during the annual Veterans Day Parade. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

Kane said he marched with his grandfather, who is a Vietnam War combat veteran, to celebrate the holiday that recognizes the people who have done military service during wartime.

“We need to remind people that war is absolutely good for nothing,” Swanson said. “So that’s what we’re out here for, to prevent another war.”

Fellow marchers carried banners that read “Vets Against the Next War” and “We Support Our Troops.”

Other groups that drove or strode down Main Avenue on Friday included the American Legion Post 28, local Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts chapters, the Victorian group, the Knights of Columbus, Durango Fire Protection District, La Plata County Sheriff's Office and others.

The Color Guard, consisting of VFW and American Legion members and other area veterans, led the parade.

Durango High School Red Pride Marching Band filled the streets with music, announcing the parade’s passage as they went by.

Mike Benton, who organized VFW Post 4031’s Veterans Day Parade this year, said he was pleased with the turnout.

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4031, American Legion Post 28, local Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts chapters, the Victorian group, the Knights of Columbus, Durango Fire Protection District, La Plata County Sheriff's Office, and other groups participated in Durango’s annual Veterans Day Parade on Friday on Main Avenue. The parade started near the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and stopped at Buckley Park. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

Durango High School Red Pride Marching Band plays its way up Main Avenue on Friday during the Veterans Day Parade in downtown Durango. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

Participants in the Veterans Day Parade make their way up Main Avenue on Friday. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

“You know, coming out of COVID it was kind of interesting,” he said. “Are we going to have a lot of people here? I know the Fourth of July did really well. I was pretty happy to see how many people were on the streets.”

He said Friday’s Veterans Day Parade was the first parade he’d ever organized, and he appreciated the experience. Being new to the Durango area, it thrust him into the community and helped him learn more about the city and its people.

“It was an interesting challenge. I got to meet a lot of people around town,” he said. “But it really helped make me proud of the Durango area, the way everybody stepped up.”

cburney@durangoherald.com