The annual Columbus Veterans Day Parade will honor the sacrifices of military members and their families as it winds through downtown Nov. 10.
This year’s Grand Marshals are retired Air Force Col. Tom Moe, Columbus-based Lima Company of the 25th Marine Regiment, 3rd Battalion, and its Gold Star families.
Moe was an Air Force pilot shot down in Vietnam in January of 1968. He spent five years as a prisoner of war in Hanoi, Vietnam, until he and a large group of other POWs were flown to freedom in March of 1973 in a mission called Operation Homecoming. Moe later served as director of the Ohio Department of Veterans Services.
Lima Company is a Marine Corps reserve unit noted for being among the hardest hit units during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The company sustained significant combat losses in its early 2005 deployment to Iraq, losing 22 Marines and a Navy Corpsman.
Local television personality Fox 28’s Bob Kendrick will narrate the event.
The day begins with the firing a Civil War cannon three times on the front lawn of the Ohio Statehouse, near the corner of Broad and High streets. The 1st Ohio Light Artillery, Battery A will fire the cannon with the help of special guests including musician Joe Walsh at 11:30 a.m., 11:45 a.m., and again at noon to kick off the parade.
A military fly-over by the Ohio Air National Guard will follow the cannon fire as the parade steps off from Nationwide Plaza at North High Street. It will then travel south through downtown on Broad Street passing the reviewing stand and will end at the National Veterans Memorial and Museum just across the bridge on Broad Street.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther will join Ohio National Guard Adjutant General Army Maj. Gen. John C. Harris Jr., DLA Land and Maritime Commander Army Brig. Gen. Gail Atkins and Deputy Commander Kenneth Watson in the reviewing stand, along with officials from the Ohio legislature and the Ohio Department of Veterans Services.
As in past years, the final float will herald the first appearance of Santa Claus in central Ohio and the Marine Corps program Toys for Tots will be collecting new unwrapped gifts from parade spectators.
The free, public parade is sponsored by the Military/Veterans Educational Foundation of Ohio.
| Date Taken: | 11.08.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 12.27.2022 15:02 |
| Story ID: | 435916 |
| Location: | COLUMBUS, OHIO, US |
| Web Views: | 18 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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