Wenatchee Veterans Day Parade a Multigenerational Affair

Downtown Wenatchee is abuzz with pride following Monday morning's Veterans Day parade, a solemn and reverent but palpably joyous affair hosted by American Legion Post 10.

For paradegoers, the point of entry was Wells Fargo Bank - this was the staging area. The procession strutted down Chelan Ave., from 3rd St. to Orondo Ave., before landing at Mission St.

At 11 a.m. sharp, Memorial Park erupted in ceremonial gunfire. It's customary for the honor guard to render a 21-gun salute. This was followed by the playing of taps, an iconic and elegiac 24-note bugle call.

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Among those in attendance was Cathy Whitehorn. Her eldest grandson, she notes proudly, is a Wenatchee High School student and taps player. She says the meaning of service, of self-sacrifice for the greater good, is not lost on her children or grandchildren.

"My husband's a vet," Whitehorn says. "He's talked to 'em about what it means [to serve]."

The parade was nothing if not a multigenerational affair. It wasn't just WHS students who participated; so too did percussionists and brass players from Eastmont High School, as well as area middle schools.

Carl Thompson is an Army vet who was stationed for a time outside of Stuuttgart in Southern Germany. He agrees with Whitehorn that many young people are inquisitive and appreciative of service members. By the same token, an all-volunteer military means that service is abstract to most of the population. This, Thompson speculates, might depress parade turnout.

"Each year there's a little less participation," Thompson says ruefully. "It's getting smaller every year. It's getting smaller because we don't have a draft."

Click here for a list of charities that support veterans and active-duty military personnel.