Veterans Day Parade 2019

We were up early this morning and headed off to be a part of the 2019 Veterans Day Parade in the Hollywood area of NE Portland on Sandy Blvd.  Our contingent of the parade, about halfway through, were the Portland Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, then the Sons of the American Revolution, then Dayle and I in our red car decorated with flags, followed by the Speed's Towing truck with more DAR ladies on the truck bed.

Before we began I snapped a few photos, here are the SAR from the front.  :-)  That handsome guy in the middle is my brother-in-law Teddy.  It was difficult for he and I as it's our first parade without my sister Roberta, Ted's wife.  She organized us to be in the parade for about 15 years or more.  Teddy is descended from Daniel Boone's brother and is wearing buckskins similar to what his ancestor wore.

Our fabulous Senior Oregon Senator Ron Wyden - serving since 1996 - was there so we had a nice chat and a photo op.  :-)  I told him we loved him, thanked him for all he does for Oregon and asked him a BIG favor.  Can you guess what it was?  :-)

I organized the group photo as usual. We also saw Representative Earl Blumenauer U.S. Representative for Oregon's 3rd congressional district, serving since 1996 - and asked him to join us, he's far left.

We finally got moving in the parade and the crowd was wonderful - a lot of people honoring the Veterans who fought for our freedom.

Here is my favorite Veteran, he served in the Army, was a Chief Warrant Officer helicopter pilot was was shot on May 3, 1968 in the line of duty in Vietnam while on a combat mission near Khe Sanh.  He was awarded a Purple Heart, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal and several other medals for his service.  He was shot in the thigh and although they saved his leg, it is one and a half inches shorter than the other leg and has bothered him his whole life and caused him a great deal of pain.

The hard part of being in the parade is not getting photos of ALL the rest of the parade!  :-) After we disbanded we pulled over to snap a few photos of the car before we removed the magnetic signs for our trip home.  Dayle's sign.  

My sign.  

As you can see, between us we are very patriotic and love our country and are thankful to our veterans.

My side of the car.  I've been a member of DAR for 20 years now.  I served as Vice Regent when my sister Roberta was Regent, then took my turn as Regent and was given an Honorary Regent pin upon the end of my term.  I have been the chapter Webmaster for almost as long as I've been a member.  I did the newsletter for many years, too.

This policeman was a block away and saw us taking photos of each other and called to us and asked if we'd like him to take one of us together.  Sure, thanks!  He thanked Dayle for his service and we thanked him for his service in the police dept.

Here we are, now time to head home.  Which we were safely in our easy chairs by 11 am!  LOL!

I loved this vintage woody that was in the parade.

The Salvation Army Band was ready to play during the parade.

Each year we're given a rosette ribbon to hang in our car during the parade.  I hang them on our big full-size flag we own.

We have a wall in our family room where we have some of our military memorabilia.  At the top is a beautiful wood replica of the US Seal that our son Travis and his wife Kristi bought for Dayle when they were in Hawaii, all the wood is Hawaiian woods.  Dayle's Army portrait, his medals, a photo of Dayle with a Huey helicopter from flight school.  Also a frame of medals my dad would have been awarded after his service in the Marines when he went in on the first wave of Iwo Jima during WWII fighting against the Japanese after they bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.  The shield shaped item is an Iwo Jima survivors plaque he was given at one of his Marine reunions.

Dayle's medals and some Vietnamese money and his dog-tags.

Dad's frame - this was put together and given to his 4 children by my uncle Fred many years ago as Dad refused all medals as he said he didn't deserve them, the guys who did were killed in action.  240 of his troop went in on the first wave at Iwo Jima - only 17 walked out, most were killed and many wounded.

So now we have the afternoon ahead of us, it's sunny and breezy outside.  If you have a Veteran in your family, take a moment to think of them or thank them today.

((hugs)), Teresa :-)