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Veterans' views of the parade
11/17/2013
"Honor, Pride and Sacrifice" was the theme of the 95th annual Veterans Day Parade in downtown Tulsa on Monday. Organizers told local media that Tulsa's parade is the fifth largest in the country. Thousands reportedly came out to honor the area’s veterans and support their family, friends and co-workers who marched.
A group of veterans from Goodwill Tulsa joined others in the parade. Here are some of their thoughts:
Ja Carvalho: “I felt very proud today. That feeling you get while passing the Reviewing Stand and then hearing all of the children thanking us reminded me of why I served.”
Dori Britton: “The atmosphere at Goodwill prior to departure was pleasant. They handed out candy bars with the maps. There were fellow employees taking pictures and they were thanking the veterans. Outside someone took a video of each veteran which was later posted onto the Goodwill Facebook page. That was nice to share on Facebook. As a result of that I got three people to ‘LIKE’ the Goodwill page last time I looked.
“When arriving at the parade site, it was great to see all of the different veterans from different eras, plus other branches of service. It was especially nice to see the older veterans. Then you saw the parade participants – many, many motorcycles, the Jeep club, the classic cars club, the Corvette club, the miniature motorcycles and cars with the Shriners, the Carver pom club practicing their cheers with Miss Oklahoma (who road on the Kiwanis Club float) and MORE. What was really nice was how many were watching the parade and their enthusiasm and patriotism. There were veterans sprinkled throughout the parade watchers. You could identify them by their ball caps stating branch of service and/or the war they were in all the way up to some of them being in full dress uniform.
“I rode with a Viet-Nam veteran who was pleased to see the other Viet-Nam veterans throughout the crowd – as they were to see him.
“While they were cheering for the veterans, every so often I would hear someone yell a hurrah for Goodwill, too.
“I am told this was the first Veterans Day parade for Goodwill and it was a great opportunity to represent the Goodwill in the community.”
