MARYSVILLE, CA (MPG) – Marysville awakened on a rainy day in November and was greeted by American flags appearing on fences, on people’s front porches and lining the streets of downtown Marysville. Monday, Nov. 11 was Veterans Day all over America and a grateful nation came out to honor those who have served and are currently serving in the military.

As the wind and rain lashed D street, the flags whipped, and the 2024 Veterans Day parade came to life as the organizers moved around organizing parade participants and getting ready for this time-honored tradition.

Nearing the parade’s start time, a sense of excitement took hold, not just for the parade itself but the sense of nostalgia. You see and feel the comradery between veterans of the branches of the military, even from different eras, as they come together; Their stories are retold, tearful hugs of joy between veterans are exchanged and moments of heartfelt silence observed as they reminisce about fallen colleagues of years past. 

The buglers play as the parade starts, a silent hush falls across the D street, echoing across this great country as the time strikes the eleventh hour on the eleventh day. There is no sound except that of silence for those who have passed on - the noise of a busy nation goes quiet. 

Now with a flourish the parade starts - colors that don’t run leading the parade down Marysville’s historic downtown streets as our hearts swell with patriotic pride.

Families and friends line the streets holding their American flags, cheering to honor our veterans as they march through the town in uniform. School children hold signs and wave flags as their parents and grandparents look on, sharing in this American experience. 

As the parade moves down the street you can feel the town come alive as it always does on Veterans Day, as Marysville celebrates the service of our veterans to the cause of freedom for us at home and around the globe. 

The parade itself is filled with veterans of all branches of military service and community groups all out to celebrate our Veterans.  

As we celebrate our veterans on this rainy day in November, we should remember the wind and rain we endured today, to honor our Veterans, can’t compete with the cold and mud experienced by our veterans in the trenches of World War I or II, the blustery weather on the beaches of Normandy, the bitter cold of Korea, the monsoons in Northeast Asia or windswept deserts of the Middle East.

So, when you see a veteran thank them for their service, not just on Veterans Day, but on every day.