East Hawaii residents honored those who served their country Saturday during a Veterans Day Parade blessed with sunny skies and a gentle breeze that waved a giant United States flag flying over Kamehameha Avenue in Hilo.
Many parade participants, including active service members, taiko drummers, high school students, elected officials, bikers and more, saluted veterans as they passed.
The theme of the parade is “Celebrate Service,” and parade chairwoman and U.S. Army veteran Deb Lewis said the event is meant to honor all those who help others.
“The idea is we celebrate service in ways that benefit the community, our veterans and everyone for the whole year,” she said.
In total, there were 78 parade units, and Lewis noted the event has grown considerably.
“I think today is about finding out what matters most,” she added.
“It’s a feeling you cannot compare,” Lewis said, regarding serving others. “It’s like music … and today we actually have a lot of music so keep the music and light in your lives and you can do that by finding many, many ways to serve.”
This year’s Veterans Day also coincides with the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. The war, which claimed the lives of millions, including more than 100,000 Americans, ended Nov. 11, 1918.
Veterans Day, originally called Armistice Day, began a year later.
James Puuohau III, 85, said while sitting along the parade route that he appreciates the recognition, including receiving handshakes from parade participants when they notice he is a veteran. He said he served in the Army and was stationed in Europe and later in the demilitarized zone in Korea in the 1950s.
Puuohau said he would ask people to “remember the vets that went before me and those that went with me and never came back.”
Parade volunteer and Air Force veteran J.E. Orozco said the holiday is a good way to bring people together in times of intense political polarization.
“It’s a crazy time for the U.S. now in regards to politics and such,” he said. “So I feel like, hey, this is something that can bring people together more so than everything else.”
Orozco added, “For me that’s what patriotism is about — it’s we’re all in this together. We may not agree on all things, right, but when it comes to — Do we love our country? Do we want to see it do well? — yes, we do.”
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.