Expect Some Delays Friday As Veterans Are Recognized
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Some traffic patterns will be changing in downtown Baltimore this coming Friday for a special observance.
Alex DeMetrick reports if there's inconvenience, it's nothing compared to the sacrifice made by America's veterans.
There is a statue honoring veterans outside City Hall with a scroll containing dates when Americans took up arms. But it was the end of World War I that eventually set Veterans Day on Nov. 11.
"The date is 11-11-11. And on the eleventh hour of this year, we're going to have all the church bells in Baltimore ring," said Robert Guye of the Veterans Commission.
But first, veterans will march from the Washington Monument.
"It's going to travel south on Charles Street and east on Lexington Street, and it's going to end up at the War Memorial Plaza. There's going to be quite a number of street closures. So up until noon there will be traffic interruptions," said Baltimore City Fire Chief Kevin Cartwright.
The event is open to all veterans, and organizers hope as many as possible will show up in their old uniforms to stand and be recognized. That includes those from the most recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to veterans from Vietnam, to the war in Korea, to World War II.
And for their duty, there's appreciation from the rest of us.
"On Veterans Day it's a real pleasure when someone says thank you for being a veteran," said Guye.
The opportunity will be here Friday.
For veterans attending the march and ceremony, the city has arranged for free parking in nearby garages.
