Strong Legion presence expected in NYC
Members of the American Legion march in the 2015 New York City Veterans Day parade.

Strong Legion presence expected in NYC

The American Legion will again have a strong presence in the nation’s largest Veterans Day Parade – and area Legion family members are encouraged to make that presence even stronger.

An American Legion float will be a part of the 97th annual “America’s Parade: New York City” on Nov. 11. The 2015 parade was watched by half a million spectators and featured more than 300 marching units, dozens of float and more than 200 military vehicles.

This year’s parade will commemorate the 15th anniversary of 9/11, with special recognition of Afghanistan, Iraq and other post-9/11 veterans, as well as first responders. It will also mark the 25th anniversary of Desert Storm.

The United States Coast Guard is this year’s featured military branch. And this year the parade will have three grand marshals who are post-9/11 veterans and 9/11 first responders: U.S. Army veteran Joe Dugga, U.S. Army veteran Stephanie Dawson and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Nelson Vergara.

Legion family members wanting information on participating in the parade can email 9-11 Memorial Post 200 in New York City at Parade@AmericanLegion.com. More information about Legion participation in the parade will be found on Post 2001’s website as it becomes available.

This year’s parade will start at approximately 11:15 a.m. The more than 20,000 participants will march up Fifth Avenue from 26th Street to 52nd Street. The parade is preceded by an opening ceremony at 10 a.m. in Madison Square Park (24th Street and Fifth Avenue) and is concluded with a wreath-laying ceremony at 11 a.m. at the Eternal Light Monument.

For those who can’t view the New York City parade, it will be broadcast live via three different mediums:

• PIX11 in New York City (WPIX)

• AFN (Channel information coming soon)

• Military.com (link coming soon)

Also this year, Los Angeles will host its first “America’s Parade.” The parade will start just after 11 a.m. PT on the West L.A. VA campus parking lot 38. The 1-mile route will travel across the campus on Bonsall Avenue, passing a grandstand for attendees just beyond Wilshire Boulevard. At the end of parade in parking lot 6 and 7 there will be entertainment, food and vendors, as well as a veterans resource fair.