Veterans Day Celebrations: Dog Tags, Parades to Represent Nation's Pride in Those Who Served

The nation prepared Friday for a weekend of events honoring those who wore the uniform, culminating in the Nov. 11 observation of Veterans Day, but some parades were canceled due to the weather, safety concerns or lack of interest.

Traditional Veterans Day parades have been making a comeback since many were canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Colorado Veterans Project and the city of Denver announced Thursday that the 11th annual Denver Veterans Day Parade was being canceled because of snow.

For the second year, the Veterans Day Parade in Raleigh, North Carolina, was canceled as organizers and the city failed to agree on traffic restrictions imposed after a young girl was killed in a vehicle accident in the 2022 parade.

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The Rolla Chamber of Commerce in Rolla, Missouri, announced Thursday that the "low number of parade entries" had forced the decision to cancel the Veterans Appreciation Parade scheduled for Saturday.

For the third time in five years, the annual Fort Myers, Florida, Veterans Day Parade had to be canceled. Tony Neal, commander of American Legion's Rabe O. Wilkison Post 38, told the Fort Myers News-Press that the recent hurricanes made it impossible to organize the parade.

Despite the occasional cancellations, hundreds of other parades, concerts and other activities were proceeding nationwide through the weekend and on Veterans Day to honor the nation's roughly 18 million veterans.

Some of the events had a theme in addition to their main purpose of honoring veterans. The California's Veterans Day Ceremony at the California State Capitol in Sacramento on Monday will feature a parade and also speakers who will focus on mental health awareness.

In Hawaii, the Oahu Veterans Council has organized a ceremony Monday that will include a wreath laying, a rifle salute, and a hula performance.

In Bellville, Ohio, American Legion Post 535's Legion Family will go to a local nursing home to visit the veterans living there, as well as provide food care packages for veterans who are in need.

In Washington, D.C., the nonprofit National Veterans Parade Foundation has organized a parade along Constitution Avenue on Sunday that will include the U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps and the Howard University marching band.

In Manhattan, the parade organized by the United War Veterans Council and billed as the nation's largest was expected to feature nearly 300 marching and vehicle units and as many as 20,000 marchers.

All of the parades and other activities were meant to give honor and appreciation to those who served in the military and "kept the light of liberty shining bright around the world. Just as they have kept the ultimate faith in our nation, we must keep ultimate faith in them," President Joe Biden said in his White House proclamation issued Wednesday to mark Veterans Day 2024.

In line with Biden's statement, the humble dog tag has been chosen this year to represent the shared identity of generations of service members who put duty to country first.

The Veterans Day National Committee of the Department of Veterans Affairs picked a design for the national Veterans Day poster drawn up by former Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Myisha Godette featuring dog tags to symbolize the theme of this year's observance -- "A Legacy of Loyalty and Service."

"Ultimately, I chose to symbolize the shared experience of service members -- past, present and future -- with elements like the American flag, military dog tags, and the enduring strength of veterans, embodied by a solid, dark concrete background in my design," Godette said in a Veterans Affairs news release.

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