Over 1,000 Veterans Expected to March in St. Louis Parade For Iraq War Vets Saturday
Posted by Jim Hoft on Friday, January 27, 2012, 11:26 PM
Tonight at the St. Louis Soldier’s Memorial volunteers read the names of US heroes who made ultimate sacrifice in Iraq. Despite the cold and rain a couple of hundred people turned out for the service that started at 9:11 PM CST.
Saturday:
Welcome Home the Heroes
Parade Starts at NOON January 28th, 2012
For parade route please click here
Veterans Resource Village will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. inside Union Station
Live entertainment at Veterans Resource Village from 3 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Organizer Craig Schneider says this is for the whole country.
Over 1,000 veterans and their families are expected to march in the St. Louis Iraq War Vets parade tomorrow in downtown St. Louis. The parade is expected to include over 80 floats and the hometown Budweiser Clydesdales.
Reuters reported, via Pat Dollard:
At least 1,000 Iraq War veterans and their family members are expected to march in St. Louis on Saturday in the nation’s first major homecoming parade honoring U.S. soldiers who served in the war, a coalition of veteran groups, private citizens and local officials said.
Since the last troops left Iraq in December there have been scattered small events, including a speech by President Barack Obama at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, thanking veterans for their service, but no major parade of the style seen at the end of World War One and World War Two.
Organizers said the downtown St. Louis parade was being run by a non-profit veteran group and several residents disturbed by the lack of a major pomp-and-circumstance homecoming for troops. They raised nearly $30,000 by Friday for the event.
“We thought that if we can have a victory parade for the Cardinals World Series victory, we certainly should be able to have one for the vets of Iraq,” said St. Louis attorney Tom Appelbaum, who helped get the plans underway a month ago.
“It seems silly that there was a national debate about it,” he added.
Veterans from the Iraq or Afghanistan wars may march with their families in the parade, expected to feature 83 floats, the hometown Budweiser Clydesdales, high school marching bands and units from police and fire departments, organizers said.
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Sasja commented:
Well, at least they weren’t cursed at, spit on, and vilified like those who served in Nam. And for that I am grateful.
God bless them and wish I could be there.
texas commented:
Awesome!! I am so excited the Troops are finally getting honored. My heart is full!!!
God bless ya, St Louis!!
The conservative soapbox commented:
Pleaae all, be careful that this doesnt get used as a pitch issue for the Dems- I love our troops and thank God for their service….but this just doesn’t pass the smell test. Please look into who the organizers are…
James commented:
God bless our brave troops and God bless President George W. Bush, the greatest president in american history. And I wish God bless the Iraqi people.
bg commented:
++
Godspeed, God Bless & Thank You Vets!!
It Has Always Been The Soldier
It is the soldier,
not the President who gives US Democracy.
It is the soldier,
not the Congress who takes Care of US.
It is the soldier,
not the Reporter who has given us Freedom of Press.
It is the soldier,
not the Poet who has given us Freedom of Speech.
It is the soldier,
not the campus [community] Organizer who
has given us the Freedom to Demonstrate.
It is the soldier,
who salutes the flag;
who serves beneath the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag,
that allows the protester to burn the flag.
~ Father Dennis O’Brien, US Marine Corp. Chaplain
God Bless America!
God Bless Soldiers everywhere for putting THEIR
lives on the line to protect us ALL from terrorism!
==
Andreas K. commented:
Welcome home parade? Great idea.
Victory parade? What victory? Thanks to political correctness running rampant even in the military you have not won this war. Not in A-stan, not in Iraq. Simple fact. It was always abundantly clear that Iraq would be lost the moment US forces would move out. Guess what’s happening now. Oh I know, Obama’s fault, right? Wrong. You would have to pull out eventually anyway, but you failed to destroy the nazi ideology.
In WW2 terms, you manged to kill Hitler, but the entire system, the entire nazi hierarchy, the entire nazi military, the nazi ideology and the entire warmaking potential is still around. That’s not victory. Not even close.
The next 9-11 is already on your doorstep, because your military, your politicians, heck, most of your population are ignorant as to what is going on and who and what is the enemy.
Yes, we’re at war with islam. Have been for 1,400 years.
bg commented:
++
OT..
January 27, 2012
The NYPD, the CIA, and “The Third Jihad”
[Also in 2008, I published Who is behind Relentless, Obsession and The Third Jihad? which contains a lot of information about the individuals and organizations behind producing and disseminating this anti-Muslim film. Raphael Shore, Rabbi Ephraim Shore, the Clarion Fund, Aish Hatorah, Honest Reporting, Christians United for Israel, Rev. John Hagee, Front Line Strategies (a Republican PR firm), Hasbara Fellowships, the Mamiye Foundation, MEMRI, David Horowitz’ Terrorism Awareness Project, Nonie Darwish, Alan Dershowitz, Rev. O’neal Dozier, Steven Emerson, Brigitte Gabriel, Caroline Glick, Center for Security Policy, Alfons Heck, Glenn Jenvey, Irwin Katzov, Wayne Kopping, John Loftus, the Intelligence Summit, Itamar Marcus, Peter Mier (alias), Ari Morgenstern, Daniel Pipes, Gregory Ross, Walid Shoebat, Sarah Stern, Ron Torossian, Tom Trento, Khaled Abu Toameh, Eric Werth, and Robert Wistrich are all discussed in some detail in this article. These individuals and organizations come up again and again in connection with one anti-Muslim activity or another.]
The Times and the Muslims
[The NYPD once again finds itself in the crosshairs of the New York Times. On Tuesday, theTimes resurrected a year-old story from the Village Voice about the showing of my documentary film The Third Jihad to officers participating in an NYPD training program. What was the new smoking gun that warranted a trifecta of an above-the-fold report from Michael Powell on January 24, an editorial (describing it as a “hate-filled film”) on January 25, and yet another report in theTimes on January 25 — all amplified across the mainstream media by an AP rehash?
The Times was apparently impressed by new and supposedly devastating information that it was over 1,500 police officers who viewed the movie. Never mind that there are almost 35,000 officers on the force.]
January 28, 2012
Police Chief Admits Film Goes Too Far
[The police commissioner did break his public silence on the film "The Third Jihad," which includes three interviews with him and was viewed by as many as 1,500 officers at the end of 2010 during counterterrorism training sessions. Groups have called the film anti-Muslim and demanded Mr. Kelly's resignation.]
more here (you may have to Google for
full article: just copy & paste headline)..
==
kato commented:
The military did a great job. Too bad their hard work and huge sacrifice is being squandered by a subprime grifter.
Let’s not make this historic mistake for another 230 years.
bg commented:
++
Andreas K. #6 January 28, 2012 at 1:20 am
“VICTORY” as in “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED”, approx 3 weeks into
the war, Saddam Hussein & his Regime were felled, ergo.. out of
commission..
and if Iraq gets lost at some point in the future, it’s won’t
be because our beloved US troops weren’t VICTORIOUS..
so take your misplaced anti-jihad lines
and post them on jihadi web sites..
i’m sick to death of you dissing US troops every chance you get..
==
bigL commented:
is there any tv coverage?
#1AMERICAN commented:
god bless the troops and anyone who has served our country…hope they have enough cops out there because you know the marxist demo-turds will be out in force jerring and throwing tantrums
USMCdaughter1 commented:
Our troops deserve more than we can ever express, a parade is a good place to start though. Jobs would be better, showing them respect is right up there too.
BTW, NYC has refused to hold a parade for them – write the Governor, the Mayor and all the politicians to convince them that it’s a bone headed decision!
Justin commented:
Every city in America should be doing this.
avery commented:
NY city mayor said no parade.
No Man commented:
There ain’t enough bullets.
Midget Mike, NYC mayor, banned the Iraq War parade in NYC.
Earlier he called out all opposed to the 285th mosque in NYC. It would be across the street from where the World Trade Center towers once stood.
I have to work there. I do not have to spend any money there.
Boycott NYC.
bigL commented:
why not have a parade in NYC. They have columbus Day. And tyhe Irsh get a parade. the Gays get a parade.AREn’t our troops doing impossibly restricted (Like ROE) tasks deserve a parade?
valerie commented:
#9 January 28, 2012 at 1:47 am
bg commented:
Despite my wonder at the accomplishments of our troops in Iraq, and the very real victory there, I have to admit Andreas has a point. Obama was determined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, and he did it.
Iraq and the US both had a strategic interest in demonstrating Iraq’s sovereignty, and in negotiations over the Status of Forces Agreement to follow onto the one put in place during the Bush administration, the Obama administration flounced away from negotiations like an ignorant buyer in a bazaar. They declared that an opening position was unacceptable, walked out, didn’t return, and made no effort to craft an agreement.
bg commented:
++
valerie #20 January 28, 2012 at 10:39 am
oh i know, but that wasn’t my point, which was/is..
A K. always uses her jihad against jihadists to demean the
VICTORIES THAT OUR TROOPS ACCOMPLISHED IN IRAQ..
kiifaya!!
bash Islamists & Military ROE etc. all you like, i do it all the time,
just don’t use our beloved troops as a base to launch them..
==