Nov. 16 parade will honor veterans from current, past U.S. conflicts
File Photo: Carlton Fletcher
By Alan Mauldin
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LEESBURG – Last year’s inaugural Leesburg Veterans Day Parade in Lee County honored a group of veterans who are no longer with us, those who served in the trenches of World War I in Europe.
This year, the Nov. 16 parade will recognize those fighting in the United States’ longest war: the Global War on Terror.
“Last year we featured the 100th anniversary of World War I,” said Paul Murray, chairman of the parade hosted by the Southwest Georgia Veterans Coalition. “This year, we wanted to recognize and honor the servicemen and women that served not only in the GWOT era, but also all those that have served since Vietnam, such as the Dominican Republic, Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo.
“We want veterans of all eras there. This is for you.”
Topping the bill for the parade will be the Fort Benning Maneuver Center of Excellence Band. The unit will wear combat uniforms and berets in accordance with the theme, Murray said.
Applications for parade entries may be picked up at the Lee County Chamber of Commerce, the Lee County Ledger, or by calling parade vice chairman Denzil Harrell at (770) 714-2576. Nov. 1 is the application deadline.
Applicants must have a patriotic theme, Murray said, and will be accepted for commercial, non-commercial and dignitary categories.
A group of 13 veterans groups got together to form the coalition to create the Veterans Day event, Harrell said.
“We needed something in south Georgia to recognize our veterans on Veterans Day,” he said. “Nobody was doing anything. We just wanted to do something to recognize the veterans.”
Attendance for the first year was good, he said, and should be better for the second edition.
“It went great, for a first effort,” Harrell said. “We threw that (one) together in two months. We had all year to work on it this year.”
Harrell anticipates 60 to 80 entrants for the 2019 parade.
These will include, “most all of the American Legion posts, the VFWs (Veterans of Foreign Wars), ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corp), Junior ROTC (and) individuals that just want to join the parade with a patriotic vehicle,” Harrell said. “The Marine base will be participating. The Georgia National Guard will be participating.”
Veterans from the Global War on Terror and from other eras who are being honored will lead the parade, Harrell said.
“We appreciate everybody coming out and supporting the parade, honoring the veterans,” he said.
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