Get ready for one of the biggest and best Veterans Day parades this area has ever seen. More than 80 units with multiple components have signed up to march or perform during this year's annual parade, hosted by the Hampton Roads Council of Veterans Organizations. The Hampton Roads Council of Veterans Organizations has been hosting the annual Veterans Day Parade and ceremony since 1970.
The parade starts Friday at 9 a.m. at 16th St. and Atlantic Ave., and will end at the Tidewater Veterans Memorial at 19th St., across from the Virginia Beach Convention Center. This year’s grand marshal is Colonel William J. Davis USA (Ret.), Special Forces Association, Chapter 84. Captain Tito M. Arandela, Jr., USN Force Security/Anti-Terrorism Officer is this year’s Co-Marshal.
This year’s parade lineup includes:
- Marching bands from the U.S. Navy Fleet Forces Band and local area high school and middle school bands
- Newport News Police Pipes and Drums
- Heavy equipment and vehicles from JB Langley-Fort Eustis, USCG Little Creek and JEB Little Creek-Fort Story
- Representatives of Disabled American Veterans and the Fleet Reserve Association
- Honor guards from the U.S. Army 11th Transportation Battalion, JB Langley-Eustis and Chesapeake and Virginia Beach police departments
- Virginia Beach Fire Department, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach sheriff’s offices
- Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops from across the area, drill teams and more
Following the parade, a ceremony will take place at 11 a.m.at the Tidewater Veterans Memorial, where there will be a wreath-laying, a salute to veterans and a flyover with aircraft from Military Aviation Museum—Pungo Airport.
Remarks will be provided by special guests Congressman Scott Rigell, 2nd Congressional District; Terrie Suit, Secretary of Veterans Affairs & Homeland Security and Virginia Beach Mayor Williams D. Sessoms, Jr.
For the third year in a row, the City of Virginia Beach has been selected as a designated Regional Site for the observance of Veterans Day 2010. Notification was received from the office of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs advising that the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Veterans Day National Committee selected the City of Virginia Beach as one of more than 50 designated sites nationwide that serve as model community events in honor of our Nation’s Veterans. Virginia Beach was the only site recognized in the Commonwealth.
The Hampton Roads Council of Veterans Organizations and the Filipino-American Veterans of Hampton Roads, along with the Mayors of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach, cordially invite the public to this event.
For more information, please contact Priscilla Beede at (757) 468-2357.
The Hampton Roads Council of Veterans Organizations has been hosting the annual Veterans Day Parade and Ceremony since 1970. This event is supported by the Mayors and City Councils from the cities of Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia. The annual parade features representatives and military vehicles from all branches of the armed services across the region. Veterans who march represent members who served at Pearl Harbor in World War II, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Desert Shield, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan.
# # #
News Releases: VBgov.com/Info
