The Veterans Day Parade is an annual parade produced by the United War Veterans Council (UWVC) in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It is the largest

Veterans Day Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces (who were discharged under conditions other than di ...

event in the United States of America. The event, which is held in the New York City borough of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

honoring living U.S. servicemen and women, begins just after 11 a.m. EST on

. The Veterans Day Parade begins on

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...

at 23rd Street, and continues north along Fifth Avenue to 52nd Street.

Overview

The Veterans Day Parade in New York has been in existence since 1919. The parade draws over 20,000 participants and 400,000 spectators each year, making it the largest Veterans Day event in the nation. The Veterans Day commemoration begins with a wreath-laying ceremony one hour prior to the start of the parade at the

Eternal Light Flagstaff The ''Eternal Light Flagstaff'' is a memorial monument located in Madison Square Park in Manhattan, New York City which was dedicated on Armistice Day, November 11, 1923, and commemorates the return to the United States of members of the United ...

Madison Square Park Madison Square is a public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for Founding Father James Madison, fourth President of the United States. ...

. The celebrations are aired live on ABC's flagship NYC station,

WABC-TV WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios in the Lincoln Square neighbor ...

, and is streamed live on its official Facebook fanpage.

History

2011 parade

The parade took place on November 11, 2011, commemorating the 10th anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001. The 2011 parade included 27 active military units from all branches, six Medal of Honor recipients, veterans groups and high school bands from around the nation.

2012 parade

Late

New York City Mayor The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

Ed Koch served as Grand Marshal of the 2012 parade. Also, there was a train crash that resulted in 4 fatalities and injured 16 people.

2013 parade

Retired

General Officer A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

Ann Dunwoody, the first-ever female Four Star general in the U.S. Army, served as Grand Marshal, in honor of Dunwoody's near-four decades worth of dedicated military service.

2014 parade

Former New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly was the Grand Marshal for the 95th edition of the parade. Kelly was bestowed the honor in recognition of his time in the

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

, as well as Kelly's 13 years as police commissioner in two separate appointments (1992–1994 and 2002–2013), under Mayors David Dinkins and

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

, respectively.

2015 parade

Robert M. Morgenthau Robert Morris Morgenthau ( ; July 31, 1919July 21, 2019) was an American lawyer. From 1975 until his retirement in 2009, he was the District Attorney for New York County (the borough of Manhattan), having previously served as United States Atto ...

, the former Manhattan

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

;

United States attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the Southern District of New York, as well as

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

veteran, served as the parade's Grand Marshal.

2019 parade

President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

took part in the parade, being the first

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

to attend the parade, which commemorated in 100th anniversary since its inception.

2020 parade

In combatting the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, there was an early-morning procession of 100 vehicles, with strict measures such as social distancing & wearing masks by veterans. No crowds were present. Organizers presented a live broadcast on WABC, as well as a virtual parade on social media, a motorcycle ride on Fifth Avenue, and a socially distanced ruck march around the monuments of Lower Manhattan.

Participants

There are a variety of marchers, floats and marching bands in the Veterans Day Parade. Participants include active officers, various veterans groups, junior

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

members, and the families of veterans.

References

{{Authority control Military parades in the United States November events Parades in New York City Recurring events established in 1919 1919 establishments in New York City Veterans days