On Walkabout At: The 2013 Veteran’s Day Parade In Colorado Springs

Basic Information

• What: Veteran’s Day Parade
• Where: Colorado Springs, Colorado
• When: Annually
• Cost: Free
• More Information: Veteran’s Day Parade website

Narrative

Back on November 9th I took my family to go and check out the Veteran’s Day Parade that was held in downtown Colorado Springs.  We had not attended the parade since we moved to Colorado Springs two years ago so we decided to go and check it out this year.  I ended being quite impressed with the turn out for the parade.  Downtown Colorado Springs was packed with people around Tejon Street to watch the parade.  After some walking we were fortunately able to find a spot on the sidewalk to put down our folding chairs in order to watch the parade from.  The parade began at 10:00 AM and leading the parade was the Ft. Carson mounted Color Guard:

Not far behind the Color Guard was this restored Army Jeep that had an Army soldier standing up in it waving at the crowd:

I am not sure who he was, but considering the theme for this year’s parade was Wounded Warriors I would hazard a guess that he is a wounded warrior from Ft. Carson.  Considering it was a Veteran’s Day the parade of course there was plenty of American flags on display to include these ones held by US Air Force marchers:

Throughout the parade there were also a lot of restored military vehicles on display:

Some of them had elderly veterans in them such as this one that featured veterans from the Korean War that ended in an Armistice Agreement 60 years ago this year:

Other vehicles featured reenactors wearing period uniforms:

The parade featured a lot of other reenactors representing just about every war and branch of service for the US military:

Not all the vehicles were old military vehicles, there were a few historic cars such as this beautifully restored Cadillac:

There was even a helicopter that was sponsored by the city of Cripple Creek for the parade:

Considering that this is Colorado there was plenty of people riding on horseback in the parade as well:

What parade would be complete without a lot of high school marching bands?:

There was also a lot of various veterans groups marching in the parade as well:

The Marines were also out in force for the parade to include having this huge drill sergeant balloon that drew a lot of cheers:

Finally the Native-Americans also had a large presence at the parade to include the famous Code Talkers:

Conclusion

All in all we had a really good time at the parade.  The weather was beautiful and the parade ended just in time toget lunch and spend some more time downtown.  Next year we will definitely arrive a little bit earlier to get a better spot, because the side of Tejon Street we were on was quite cold since we were in the shadows.  So next year we will arrive earlier to get a better spot on the other side of the street where the sun was shining.  The parade was highly patriotic with a lot of flag waving which may not be for everyone, but for my family we enjoyed it a lot and will be back next year.