Veterans Day Parade in Crotona Park set for Saturday

Veterans Day Parade in Crotona Park set for Saturday
Photo courtesy of TBVPTT

An annual parade commemorating the country’s war veterans is set to take place this weekend.

On Saturday, November 5, the Bronx Veterans Parade Task Team will host its third annual Bronx Veterans Day Parade to salute war veterans who have served in the line of duty, along with those who continue to serve to protect our country.

The parade, which begins at 11 a.m. on East 178th Street and Southern Boulevard, will recognize and salute veterans from all wars in which this country participated in, including World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, the Iraq War and the War In Afghanistan.

The parade route will begin at East 178th Street and Southern Boulevard (on the southern side of the boulevard). The route will continue north to East 180th Street before temporarily concluding on Esat 180th Street and Vyse Avenue at Vidalia Park, where a Veterans Day service will be led by Assemblyman Michael Blake.

Following the service, the parade route will continue on East 180th Street to Old West Farms Soldiers Cemetery for a memorial ceremony and a 21-gun salute. In total, the parade route will equate to about 1.5 miles.

“This parade is held annually to spread awareness in the borough about all veterans in need – no exclusions,” said TBVPTT president James Wilson, a Vietnam veteran who said that he expects 200 to 300 participants at this year’s parade. “We (TBVPTT) started this parade to showcase all these veterans have done for our country and make people mindful that some of these veterans are not receiving necessary needs and services.”

The parade will include the P.S. 129 School Band and two Buffalo Soldiers on motorcycles, along with service members, veterans, local elected officials and community leaders.

The grand marshal for this year’s parade will be Cheryl Adams, the first female grand marshal in the parade’s history, after being voted in by members of the task team. Senator Ruben Diaz, a Vietnam War Army veteran who was appointed as the grand marshal for the previous two parades, will also be in attendance.

“We organize this parade each year to recognize the sacrifices these war heroes have made and continue to make for our country to keep us safe, as well as to highlight and include residents from this area of the Bronx,” said TBVPTT vice president Robert Walker, a Vietnam, Army and Navy veteran. “This organization is highly motivated to make sure these veterans receive recognition, especially during this time of the year.”

TBVPTT, which organizes the annual parade, is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2014 by a group of veterans from the Bronx who wanted to provide the borough with a west Bronx-based parade to commemorate former and current war veterans. The group started the parade tradition in 2014, after the previous Bronx Veterans Parade Committee, who was responsible for organizing the previous parades, dissolved in the early 2010s.

Veterans Day, which falls on a Friday this year, is annually observed on November 11 and was previously celebrated as Armistice Day until 1954, when the holiday was renamed.

This parade is not to be confused with the Throggs Neck Veterans Day Parade.