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NEW YORK - The Soldiers of the New York National Guard's 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry will once again lead New York City's St. Patrick's Day Parade on Tuesday, March 17.
This will be the 164th time since 1851 that the battalion, nicknamed "The Fighting 69th" since the Civil War, has led the world's largest St. Patrick's Day Parade.
This year, the battalion will also be accompanied by a riderless horse provided by the Military District of Washington's 3rd Infantry Regiment, known as The Old Guard. A horse without a rider, with boots reversed in the saddle's stirrups, traditionally signifies a fallen warrior.
The inclusion of the riderless horse is to commemorate 23 Soldiers assigned and attached to the 69th Infantry who were killed in Iraq in 2004/2005 and in Afghanistan in 2008.
Nineteen Soldiers were killed in Iraq, including eight members of the Louisiana National Guard's Company C, 2nd Battalion 156th Infantry which was assigned to the New York Battalion, and four lost their life in Afghanistan in 2008.
A company of 69th Infantry Soldiers deployed to Afghanistan in 2012 but there were no casualties during that deployment.
This year the Soldiers will march in their dress blue Army Service Uniform. One squad will march in light infantry "battle rattle" – combat equipment, helmet and carrying M4 carbines - so that the public gets an idea of how the Soldiers dress in the field, explained Lt. Col. Sean Flynn, the commander of the 1st Battalion 69th Infantry.
The 42nd Infantry Division Band will also participate in the parade.
The 69th Infantry's association with the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade began because there were fears that anti-Irish groups might attack marchers.
To protect the marchers, a New York State Militia regiment composed mainly of Irishmen, the ancestor of the 69th, volunteered to march at the front of the group to protect the parade.
Since then, there has always been a 69th Regimental presence in the parade. During World Wars I and II, which the 69th served in Europe and the Pacific respectively, and again during Operation Iraqi Freedom, members of the unit's Veterans Corps marched in the parade in place of the serving National Guard Soldiers.
A host of traditions surround the 69th and the St. Patrick's Day Parade.
The members of the 69th place a sprig of boxwood on their uniform as a reminder of the regiment's charge against Confederate lines at Mayre's Heights at the Battle of Fredericksburg on Dec. 13, 1862.
To mark their Irish heritage, the men of the Irish Brigade, including the 69th Regiment, put sprigs of green boxwood in their hatbands that day. The Union attack failed, but the burial details found that the Union troops who made it closest to the enemy fortifications before being killed had sprigs of boxwood in their hats.
Officers of the 69th carry a fighting stick made of blackthorn wood imported from Ireland. The sticks, much like a British officer's swagger stick, are considered the mark of an Irish leader and gentleman.
The Soldiers are accompanied on their march by two Irish Wolfhounds, the official mascot of the 69th Infantry. For the last 25 years, the dogs have been provided by Irish Wolfhound breeder Eileen Flanagan.
For the officers of the 69th, the day begins at 5:30 a.m. with a toast of Irish whiskey in the commander's office of the Lexington Avenue Armory, a room lined with 69th relics dating back to the Civil War. The traditions of the boxwood and the blackthorn sticks are explained to the new officers, along with a look at the "Kilmer Crucifix."
The religious icon was once worn by poet Joyce Kilmer - the author of the poem "Trees" - who died while serving in the 69th in World War I. Today it is handed down from battalion commander to battalion commander and carried in the parade.
At 6:30 a.m., the regiment's honorary bagpiper, Joe Brady, leads the men out of the Lexington Avenue and over to 51st Street for a special Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Soldiers occupy the southern half of the church as the place of honor.
The battalion commander traditionally joins the adjutant general of New York, the governor of New York and mayor of New York City in a front pew for the service and the blessing for the regiment's Soldiers.
Following mass, the battalion marches to 44th Street and 5th Avenue, the official start of the parade.
When the 11 a.m. start time for the parade arrives, a member of the Parade Committee will approach Flynn and ask him the traditional question: "Is the 69th ready?" At that, the commander and Soldiers shout back, "The 69th is always ready!" and step off on the parade route north up Fifth Avenue.
At the end of the parade route, the Soldiers take a special subway train south to the station at 28th Street and march back to their armory.
Once at the armory, the unit's officers line the front steps to honor their men as they pass by.
| Date Taken: | 03.14.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.14.2015 16:23 |
| Story ID: | 157035 |
| Location: | NEW YORK, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 299 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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