November 11, 2006 10:20 PM UTC

Veterans Day Parade

• 2 Comments
• by: Blue Bronc

Today was my first time as part of the Veterans Day Parade.  The experience was very different then anything I had expected.
  The turnout was great, thousands of people lining the route. The weather was very good for November 11th, considering what Colorado weather can offer up.
  If you are standing watching the parade you see how big the parade is.  Being in the parade you realize how many people are cheering.  You can’t see both at the same time. And like I said this was my first time in the parade.
  I was not prepared for the emotions that have welled forth from my short journey through Denver.
  I, like everyone else who has been in uniform, just wanted to get through my time without getting my ass shot off. To my mind I did nothing special, nothing unique.  Millions of women and men had preceeded me and millions have followed me.  Millions have died, millions haven’t died.  I made it through without major damage.

What I was not expecting or prepared for was people thanking me directly for serving.  Children, little and big, waving their flags, and waving at me.  Parents and grandparents thanking me directly.
 They should be applauding and thanking all the others.  They are the ones who deserve the cheers.  I have a hard time reconciling that I am the one not the others.  But they are also thanking, directly all the other veterans and active duty troops too.
  I have a hard time accepting I am any different from anybody else.  To me, the people who should be thanked can no longer hear us.  The people who fought and died to form our country, the people who fought and died to preserve our Union, the people who fought and died protecting us from terrible regimes during the history of our Republic.
  The wonderful people lining and cheering along the parade route deserve praise for coming out to thank our military, active and veterans. I will carry this day for a very long time.  And, I do have to say how young our active duty troops are.  I suspect the veterans of WWI, WWII and Korea thought the same of us during VietNam.
  THANK YOU DENVER for a great parade.
edit to add section that dropped off