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Veterans Day Parade draws a crowd of 20,000

Posted on Nov 17, 2009 in News

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An estimated crowd of 20,000 gathered in downtown Birmingham on Wednesday, November 11 to watch the 62nd annual National Veterans Day Parade.

According to Bill Voigt, president of National Veterans Day in Birmingham, the parade is the oldest and largest in the country with around 5,000 participants, including 35 sponsoring organizations.

Some of the organizations included Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Blind Veterans Association and Vietnam Veterans of America. The parade featured participants in cars, on floats, horses, motorcycles and marching on foot.

Gordon Seale, retired Sergeant First Class in the Army National Guard, has participated in the parade for 20 years.
“The parade is important because it lets people out here know what we have done, what the veterans are still doing, who the veterans are, and what they stand for,” said Seale.

Voigt said the amount of people participating and attending the parade has remained steady over the years.

“The only difficulty that we have had recently and we are having right now is the funding for the bands to come downtown. The number of bands has gone down, but the people out there in the parade and the people watching really hasn’t decreased,” said Voigt.

The parade is one of many events that take place the week of Veterans Day to salute members of the armed services.

“If you ask most people about Veterans Day, they immediately think of the parade, but we have several other events that have nothing to do with the parade, including a dinner, a luncheon, a memorial service, and a drill and color guard competition” said Voigt.

“That’s why we’re not only the oldest, but the largest observance because of the various events that we have,” Voigt added.

Josh Baucom, a U.S. Air Force veteran and current UAB student, said he really enjoyed the parade.

“I thought it was great to see the Birmingham community support it the way they did. There was a lot of people, a good atmosphere, and a good time. It was good to see the Battle of the Bulge veterans because there aren’t too many of those guys, being 80-90 years old, that are left,” said Baucom.

The only part of the parade Baucom didn’t enjoy was politicians including Sheila Smoot marching in the parade with supporters carrying campaign signs.

“I thought that was pretty classless. This was a parade for veterans who have given their life and the politicians wanted to march with a sign saying ‘Vote for me for Congress,’” said Baucom.

Another parade attendee, Brandon Templin, 12, said he was glad school was closed for the day so he could attend the parade.

“This was my first time going but I really liked it. I play flute at Irondale Middle School, so my favorite part was seeing the band from the Alabama School for the Blind. They were really inspirational,” said Templin.

Out of all the Veterans Day celebrations, William Voigt said the parade continues to be the most popular.
“People just love a parade. They love coming out and saluting veterans and just showing their appreciation.”
 

Email: hncaygle@uab.edu

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