Variety of events to honor veterans

Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2004 | 10 a.m.

A parade, a celebration and a remembrance highlight Veterans Day activities Thursday.

The Veterans Day Parade begins at 10 a.m. on Fourth Street at Gass Avenue.

Festivities at the Gobel-Lowden Veterans Museum at 3333 Cambridge Street near Desert Inn Road and Maryland Parkway will begin at 7 a.m. and feature hot-air balloon rides and free flu shots to VA Health Care System-enrolled veterans.

A remembrance ceremony is set for 1:30 p.m. at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.

"We're going to do something different this year as the parade will be led by people marching in authentic and authentically reproduced United States uniforms representing every war from the Revolutionary War to Iraq," said Jerry Adams, co-chairman of the parade.

"The person in the colonial militiaman uniform will be wearing actual britches from the late 1700s."

The parade will feature 130 entries and more than 2,000 participants -- including the 300-member U.S. Army Band -- and will be viewed by 30,000 or more spectators and thousands more watching Cox Communications cable TV, said Adams.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman will serve as the honorary grand marshal. Co-Marshals will be veterans Hap Halloran, HongKong Wilson, Bill Heller, Hank Cervantes, Joe Jara, Dick Case, retired Gen. Harry Ed Soyster and Fred Jones.

Activities following the 3 1/2-hour parade include a party under the Fremont Street Experience featuring a military vehicle display.

The museum event will feature flu shots, tethered balloon rides and the reopening of the enlarged Special Forces (Green Beret) exhibit, said museum director Ed Gobel.

"We are really excited that VA officials will be on site to administer flu shots (starting at 10 a.m.) because our museum is not only about honoring all veterans but also about helping to improve the their quality of life."

Tethered hot-air balloon rides will begin at 7 a.m., weather permitting. Ceremonial activities, featuring musical entertainment, will start at 11 a.m.

The afternoon ceremony in Boulder City will feature the dedication of the Disabled American Veterans monument in the circle of monuments in front of the facility, cemetery director Jack Porrino said, noting DAV Chapter 34 in Boulder City is hosting the event.

Other Veterans Day activities include: