A Long Oversight Corrected: Philadelphia To Get An Official Veterans' Day Parade
By Steve Tawa
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The observance of Veterans' Day, still months away, was today on the minds of a number of officials who gathered at Philadelphia City Hall.
Noted Philadelphia philanthropist Gerry Lenfest, who once served on US Navy destroyers in the Korean War, says it's almost hard to believe, in this city of firsts, that we don't have an official Veterans' Day parade.
"A Veterans' Day parade is something that is long overdue here in the great city of Philadelphia," he said today.
There are neighborhood events for vets, such as the quintessential Memorial Day parade in the Bridesburg section of the city, but
Lenfest says this year's November 11th parade in honor of Veterans' Day will be the first citywide tribute.
To get it started, US Rep. Bob Brady (D-Pa.) enlisted Lenfest, who already helps support the Greater Philadelphia Traditions Fund, which keeps 13 other parades and festivals afloat, including the Mummers, St. Patrick's Day, Columbus Day, Puerto Rican Day, and other ethnic parades.
"We (the fund) pay for the police overtime, sanitation, L&I, and whatever other cost there is," Brady (at lectern in photo) noted. He says he doesn't yet know what the price tag for a Veterans' Day parade will be, but says the Traditions Fund will take care of it.
Brady also volunteered Mr. Lenfest (fifth from right in photo) as the grand marshal for this year's parade. Lenfest's service in the Navy began in 1953. He was prospective commanding officer in the Naval Reserves for two destroyers in the Philadelphia Navy Yard (in the event the ship's crews were called to active duty), and he retired from the Reserves, as a captain, in 1976.
Parade organizer Scott Brown, the director of the Veterans Advisory Commission at City Hall, says they are still working on the route but would like to tie the parade into the annual Veterans' Day ceremonies at the Vietnam Veterans and Korean War Memorials, near the waterfront. Another option on November 11th may include what they are calling a "hall-to-hall" route -- City Hall to Independence Hall.