Birmingham to show its patriotism at National Veterans Day Parade

The National Veterans Day Parade, a Birmingham tradition since 1947, returns to the streets of downtown at 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 12.

The parade will place special emphasis on World War I, according to Mark Ryan, president of the National Veterans Day Foundation. It’s the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, the holiday created at the end of WWI that later became Veterans Day in 1954.

“We wanted to make that a significant part of the parade,” Ryan said.

The event will also feature Vietnam War-era vets. “One of our goals is to get as many of them in the parade as possible to recognize and honor them,” Ryan said.

Due to Interstate 20/59 construction, the parade will follow a different route this year and will be held in the Railroad Park area.

The parade typically includes 3,500-5,000 participants, and organizers expect about 80,000 attendees, according to Ryan.

There will be several other events Nov. 11-12, including the National Veterans Award Dinner, Veterans Memorial Service, World Peace Luncheon and Raymond Weeks Memorial Service. Weeks, a Birmingham-area veteran, began the parade and successfully lobbied President Dwight Eisenhower to create Veterans Day.

For details, including the parade route and schedule, go to nationalveteransday.org.