Parades Give El Pasoans Chance to Honor War Veterans

El Pasoans wishing to honor veterans and current military personnel for their service to our country will get their chance to do so Saturday at several area parades and ceremonies. Fort Bliss units will participate in the annual El Paso Veterans Day Parade hosted by the United American Veterans Organization.The 1.3-mile parade will begin at approximately 10:45 a.m. at Myrtle and Florence streets and circle San Jacinto Plaza. The best viewing is at the reviewing area along Mills Street by San Jacinto Plaza. The theme of this year's parade is “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans.”

Also on Saturday, San Elizario Genealogy and Historical Society will host its 16th annual Veterans Day celebration beginning at 9 a.m. That parade will start at San Elizario Cemetery on Thompson Road and end at Veterans Memorial Plaza in front of the historic San Elceario Church. A patriotic service to honor all of our nation’s veterans, plus patriotic music played by local high school bands, as well as the lighting of the candles and the POW-MIA table ceremony will follow.

The city of Las Cruces plans to honor veterans on Saturday too. The annual Las Cruces Veterans Day parade starts at 9 a.m., beginning at Loretto Towne Center, follows Church Street past City Hall and back on Hadley Avenue ending at Loretto Town Center.

Because Veterans Day falls on a Sunday this year,  the nonprofit organization that runs Old Glory Memorial in the Northeast will not put on a parade this year, but will have a ceremony on Sunday. That will start at 11 a.m. at Old Glory Memorial. That's the one with the World War I and World War II monument, a replica of the Statue of Liberty and the 5,000-square-foot American flag at Diana and Kenworthy.

Veterans Day originated at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 when the Allied powers signed a ceasefire agreement with Germany, bringing World War I to an end. Originally known as Armistice Day, Congress declared it a federal holiday in 1938.