Famous Ankles

This is my final posting on the 2007 NYC Veterans Day Parade and I’m going to use it to cover some of the oddball stuff that happened during the parade.  Not all of it is particularly strange, but the stuff that is strange, is very strange indeed.

The parade was held on a Sunday.  It was cold, almost certainly the coldest day so far this Fall, although the wind was minimal and the sun did come out and warm it up later in the day.

The worst part of the parade is that it was so sparsely attended.  When I went to the Polish Day Parade, also held on a Sunday on 5th Avenue, it was jammed.  On the other hand, here’s a couple of pictures most of the way through the Veterans Day parade.

You don’t have to take just these two pictures as evidence, look at pictures in the previous posts.

It was cold.  I’m sure that kept a lot of people away.  But I don’t think it was a good enough excuse.  The low points on this issue came when, three separate times before and during the parade, people came up and asked what was going on.  They didn’t even seem to remember what the day was.  I hope it was more or less a fluke, but I’m afraid of what I suspect is the truth…they didn’t care to remember it and their lack was emblematic of a much larger problem of know-nothingness and apathy.

People, freedom isn’t free.  It was bought by our veterans and their families at a tremendous price.

Before I get into the weirdness, at least one more happy point in the parade.  I mentioned previously that there were a lot of high school JROTC people.  There certainly was.  Good for them and their willingness to prepare for the possibility of an interesting and perhaps dangerous life ahead.  But there was another group I just want to note, too.  The Scouts.  Not a big contingent, but enough.  Both Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts.

Now, to the weirdness.

I don’t think this group of “royalty” were veterans.  If you’ve read my earlier posts you know I love beauty queens.  Usually, there’s a point to it.  These seemed to be attractive young ladies with crowns who wanted to ride in vintage cars.  At least they could have had a sign thanking the vets or a sign stating their affiliation or organization.  But there was no sign as to what they were doing.  I couldn’t read their sashes.

They braved the cold, but I’ve no idea who they are or why they were in the parade.

Another weird one was a group of vets.  It was a group of homosexual veterans who carved out a place in the parade.  They mostly consisten of a marching band that played pretty well.  Was the fact that they are homosexual a reason they were “weird”?  Nope (hey, this is NYC so what do you expect).  The fact that they had two ballet dancers leading the group performing a sequence of ballet dance moves was.  The point of the dance?  I can’t figure out any semblance of meaning from the display other than to announce their presence and look strange enough to prompt discussion.  Sorry, but no picture.

The third weird group were probably not veterans.  In fact, they were doubtless the weirdest group to ever march in a Veterans Day Parade that you could imagine.  Well, maybe not.  But you’d be hardpressed to find one less veteran-like.  It was the Falan Gong.  Or, as they put it in their signs:  the Falan Dafa.  They are a Buddist group that has been outlawed by the Chinese government.  Their lack of military affiliation is total.

I’m utterly incapable of saying why a dragon dance has any relevance to Veterans Day.  Maybe it’s relevant to anything.  They did it well, though.

This group was actually the end of the parade.  Maybe they just hung around 26th Street and jumped in and pretended to be part of the parade?  I’m sure they were authorized, but why?

The last group I’ll mention is one that I couldn’t believe appeared.  The Falan Gong and the beauty queens would seem to be completely extraneous to Veterans Day especially because they made no reference to the day itself.  But the final “weird” group did have veterans.  Or, more precisely, they represented a group of well-known veterans. (I don’t think any of the old timers were marching.)

It was the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.  It amazes me that the memory of them is nearly gone.  It pleases me immensely that no one seems to know who they were.

I was so shocked that I took no pictures.  I regret it, but not too much.

The Abraham Lincoln Brigade was a group of Americans who went to Spain right before WWII to fight on the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War.  It’s amazing in these days to think of leftists fighting with Republicans (not that the “Republicans” of that Civil War were related to the modern day American Republican Party, but it’s amusing to think of it in that fashion).

Personally, I don’t care what any revisionist may say:  my view is that these were a group of Stalinists and fellow travelers who, when they were ordered to do so (at the signing of the Hitler-Stalin Non-Aggression Pact that divided Poland in half), supported the move with a single-mindedness that was Orwellian in scope.  Those that rejected Stalin when they realized what he and the American Communist Party were doing have at least some of my respect; but I don’t think this group that marched in the parade represent those.  They were protesting the Iraq War and they flashed their radical credentials proudly.

I’m not ending this series of posts with such a picture.

-H

The last post left off at the Korean Vets.  After they came by, there was an interesting group:  the Merchant Marine.  Not the Marines, mind you, the Merchant Marine.  The Merchant Marine aren’t a military group directly, but they operate under the auspices of the Navy during wartime.  And, as the float states, they suffered terribly during WWII.  The float has a statement that they had the highest casualty rate in the war with 1 out of every 32 sailors being killed.  I hate to quibble, but it’s really the highest American casualty rate.  The kamikazis and the German U-boats had higher rates.  I’ll bicker a little bit more:  according to the merchant marine records, the casualty rate was even higher:  1 out of 26 sailors died.  And, as their sign said:  they were all volunteers.  Incredible stuff.

The merchant marines were followed by Vietnam Vets.

The next guy, a Vietnam vet, came by handing out flags.  As the announcer kept saying to the vets:  welcome home.

Another foreign veteran group came and it was a bit of a mixup on the part of the announcers.

Their signs said “ROC” and one of the announcers thought they meant “ROK” (Republic of Korea).  After about 15 seconds of extolling their service he was informed it was the Republic of China (Taiwan).  He then did a complete mea culpa and extolled them again.  Just one of those things.

The last of the foreign vets came by:  Korean veterans of the Vietnam War.  Apparently they were the biggest group besides the Americans and the South Vietnamese to have fought in that war.

After them, another group of re-enactors.

The next group was the single most impressive group in the parade.  It was the 77th RRC of Ft. Totten, New York.  “RRC” stands for “Regional Readiness Command”.  There were 1500 soldiers in the march, of which (we were told over and over again) 500 had just returned from Iraq.  These guys got a very warm welcome from all of us.

The one thing that I learned about them during this writeup is that they are the same group known as “the Lost Battalion” of World War I.  In that battle, 554 of them were separated from a coordinated attack and spent days surrounded and under attack by the German army.  In the end, after six days of battle and near starvation in early October 1918, only 194 of them emerged uncaptured and able to continue to take up arms.  The story in the link is quite inspiring.  It’s a story of confusion, gallantry, medals of honor, and communication by a carrier pigeon that became a legend among the school children of a long-ago age.

The start of the marchers.

And they kept coming.  The different companies within the marchers were often calling out in cadence.  Very impressive.

And they kept coming.

You have to remember that these are just a very few of a whole bunch of pictures of these guys.

And there were other veterans.  Here’s a group of vets from Afghanistan and Iraq.

A rather unexpected, but terrific sight:  veterans from the City University of New York (CUNY).

Followed by a Navy drill team.  They performed in front of the reviewing stand and, idiot that I am, I didn’t realize what they were doing until the very end.

There was even a contingent from the Coast Guard.  They, too, serve in our foreign wars; most famously in Vietnam.

I’ve deliberately included few of the high schools that participated.  There were hundreds and hundreds of Junior ROTC cadets marching for who-knows-how-many local high schools.  I was surprised and pleased that a number of them were geared toward the Air Force.  Unfortunately, the high school presence (with their leaders) were the only Air Force representation in the parade.  Now, my family is closely aligned with the Air Force, so I’m definitely predisposed to support them.  But I really can’t find much praise for this:

Who are they trying to appeal to?  Toddlers?

Following this display, there was a nice support by a commercial company:  U-Haul.  It was founded by a Navy Vet and the announcer said that they give a lot of support to military families.  I’ve no doubt it’s true, but when I was a kid, all we ever seemed to see for moving was Mayflower.

More in Part 4.

-H

At the start of the NYC Veterans Day Parade, I was next to a mother and daughter from Ohio.  They had lived in NYC for some time, but had left about five years ago.  The mother was a little upset that her city driving skills had atrophied over the years and she had had a run-in with another motorist.  She was talking with the official film photographer (noted in Part 1) and me and he kept saying she probably deserved the screaming-at she received.  I have to agree (she had blocked someone from parking without realizing it and not even bothered to steal the space when she encroached; she just prevented the person from reversing and waited and waited).

But, despite her adrenaline rush, they were happy to be back and were waiting to see the daughter’s high school marching band from Pickerington Central High School:  the Marching Tigers.

Apparently, there were a number of families that showed up for it, too.  There were lots of cell phone calls and plans and strategies for getting the right photos from the right angles at the right time.  It was actually very fun to listen to them debating how/whether they could sneak onto the street to grab a front-photo and how they would accommodate getting the pictures of the daughters’ closest friends and classmates.  I thought it was a bit overwrought, but I wasn’t aware of how big the band was.  And, I will also admit that the band was pretty good.

After they came by, veterans from the USS Intrepid came.  The ship, a WWII aircraft carrier, is undergoing maintenance and will be back at its dock near 42nd Street and the Hudson River next year.  It’s open year-round for tours.

Right after them came some vets traveling in style.  I imagine the cyclist had himself a great time and I hope he got a big tip.

A wonderful set of soldiers then came by.  The “tin can sailors”.  That means that these vets were on destroyers during WWII.

The next was something really special, but I didn’t realize it until I was writing this.  A truck came by with the ship’s bell of the USS Murray (DD97).

The reason it was special is its source, or rather, the service of its source.  As far as I can determine, it was the only part of the parade that was WWI-specific.  There were some marching groups that existed in WWI (like the Fighting 69th), but nothing was specifically from that time period except that bell.  The guy on the flatbed was ring it and it sounded good. 

Another very small group of note:  the China-Burma-India veterans association.  These men fought in one of the forgotten theaters of WWII.  It isn’t that forgotten, though.  Remember that Louis Mountbatten was “the Earl of Burma” and Vinegar Joe Stillwell were participants in that theater.

Behind them was the Hartselle High School Marching Band from Hartselle, Alabama.  Yeah, I had to take a picture or two.

The next group was a group of airborne paratroopers:  the 187th Infantry Rakkasans.

Their website notes that this regiment fought in WWII, Korea, Lebanon, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Persian Gulf and that their motto is “Let Valor Not Fail”.  They also have another statement “The Right of the Line” which apparently denotes their traditional position alongside other regiments.

Following them were a lot of Korean War vets.

Even Republic of Korean veterans of the war.

More in the next post.

-H

As NYC dot gov predicted, the 89th Annual NYC Veterans Day Parade did kick off at 11am.  Nowadays, I’m suspicious of that site’s accuracy as earlier posts have indicated.  But the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month is the marker of the end of “the war to end all wars” and the paraders were more accurate in their timing than the old name for WWI.

I showed up early to get a place near the reviewing stand.  I was at 41st Street and 5th Avenue, right across from the New York Public Library.  Fifteen minutes before the start of the parade, it was nearly deserted.  Nearly…there was me and an official parade filmer.  The picture below was thirty minutes into the parade so there is a little bit of a crowd. 

But, at that point, there had only been one set of marchers.  The parade started at 26th Street and, like all NYC parades, it takes a while to get 15 blocks.

The first set of marchers is usually cops on horses.  Not this time.  The first harbingers of the march were motorcyclists.  Lots of them.  And, actually, the first of three sets.

With groups like this, I always think of the Marine Corps toy drive.  Just one of those images in my mind.  There were a bunch of these guys, almost all of the Vietnam Vets from what I remember.

But, along with the cycles, they did have at least one vintage car.

The day had a bunch of motorcyclists and vintage cars.  Those were some of the most enjoyable parts.

Right after the six traditional “cops on horses” came…more motorcycles.  These were the Patriot Guard Riders.

Lots of them, too.

But they didn’t have a vintage car.  Nosirreebob.

The first contingent of WWII vets walked past.

They were followed by the usual group of dignitaries.  Every parade has to have a set of these guys.

But it wasn’t the “usual” group.  Look closely and you’ll see NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg toward the right-center (between the tall Black guy and the White guy in fatigues).  Huzzah to you, sir!  No special fanfare for him and no huge group of “the select” around him.  This is the most informal and most exposed I’ve seen him.  Well done, your honor.

The next group was an Andrews Sister-style act.  They were singing “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree With Anyone Else But Me”.  I think they timed the song wrong to get to the reviewing stand so they had to keep repeating the stanza, but it’s been so long since I heard it and maybe I thought the song was a bit more complex.  Nevertheless, they had good voices and they did set a nice tone to the atmosphere of the parade.

And then the traditional “big flag” display came by.  It was a BIGGGG FLAG.  It was from the World Trade Center and carried by Ground Zero volunteers.  After they came by, they started a “wave” that I have to say was impressive (and I’ve seen a lot of these).

Every parade needs it traditional “men in skirts”.  I really love bagpipers.  I have to admit that when they are played by men in pants, it loses something.  And these guys were really well dressed.

They were followed by a vintage firetruck.  With veteran riders, of course.

One of the few commercial groups then showed up.  The Veterans Post News group was preceded by an honor guard.

Afterward, one of the cool parts of the parade:  vintage army vehicles.  First came a “Duck“.  These were used in WWII to cross waterways.

It had a number of vets on it, but this guy caught my eye.  I like to think he spent a lot of time in one of these things.

And then there were a number of duece-and-a-half transport trucks.  The name stands for a two and a half ton truck.

And a bunch of jeeps and hummers.  All of them filled with vets and their families.

And then this monster.  All I can remember of it is that it was an ammo carrier of some sort.  Just a huge truck.  Obviously, a lot smaller than a modern semi, but it just seemed so big.

There’s lots more to the parade, but that’s for later posts.

Just an overall statement about the parade.  I’ll fill in more in future posts, but I’d have to say that there wasn’t a lot to really be happy about in the parade.  The WWII vets are well advanced in years, now.  Hey, it’s been 52 years.  You look at this and wonder how much longer they’re going to be in these parades.  A few will hang on for a long time, but the generation is definitely fading.  Just a few walked it.  Most were bundled into vehicles, and a whole lot of them were in enclosed vehicles, some with tinted window.  That’s just the way things are, and they did great things and have every reason to be proud of what they did, too.

I can’t blame them for not walking.  It was a bitterly cold day and those of us watching were freezing.  My coat was too light and I could barely write any notes.  We were enthusiastic watchers, though.  But so few of us.  You’ll see that the crowds were pretty poor.  Also, at least three times during the parade people came up to me or to people next to me and asked what was going on.  They didn’t even know it was Veterans Day.

-H