Many veterans who participate in Honor Park events also take part in the "Honoring Those Who Serve" parade.
While the "Honoring Those Who Serve" parade is a solemn occasion, it's also a celebration and Blanca and Tigre wanted to be a part of it.
Many veterans who participate in Honor Park events also take part in the "Honoring Those Who Serve" parade.
While the "Honoring Those Who Serve" parade is a solemn occasion, it's also a celebration and Blanca and Tigre wanted to be a part of it.
On Nov. 5 the recently revitalized Lafayette Road in Fort Oglethorpe will serve for the second time as the route for the “Honoring Those Who Serve" parade planned and organized by the Fort Oglethorpe Veteran and Citizen Council.
It seems a most fitting annual event for a road in a city with a long military history dating back to the Spanish-American War and actively encompassing World War I and World War II.
Fort Oglethorpe has been a military training post for three wars and is a Purple Heart City. It’s home to the 6th Cavalry Museum, Honor Park and the Southeast Veterans Museum.
The parade will also honor first responders from many walks of life, from fire fighters and EMTS, police officers and other frontline responders to medical personnel and many others who serve during emergencies.
The parade route will run from the Big Lots parking lot on the corner of Lafayette Road and Battlefield Parkway, south on Lafayette Road/US Highway 27 to Barnhardt Circle, sometimes called the polo fields for the famous matches on horseback that took place there in the 1940s.
The parade route is inviting not just because of the fairly new sidewalks, the beautiful brick crosswalks and some very interesting businesses along the way, but because of ample parking in some large parking lots that save people from long walks to find a spot from which to watch.
The parade, says Fort Oglethorpe City council member and founder of Honor Park Paula Stinnett, who also serves as an ambassador for the Fort Oglethorpe Veteran and Citizen Council, Purple Heart City, the 6th Cavalry Museum and the Historic Preservation Committee, was originally the suggestion of a veteran group in Chattanooga.
“We’ll be honoring both Georgia and Tennessee veterans,” says Stinnett. “We already have some well-known people lined up for it. Last year, it was incredible. We think it will be even better this year.”
A veteran is “a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service, and who was discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable,” according to the U.S. Veterans Administration.
In 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 18 million Americans -- seven percent of the U.S. adult population -- were veterans of the U.S. military.
In the year 2000, the number of veterans in the U.S. numbered 26.4 million. The largest number of veterans today served during the Vietnam War (1964-1975).
The percentage of the U.S. population who have been veterans ballooned when America entered World War II. In 1940, 9% of Americans were veterans. Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941 and the US entered WWII.
In 1950, when the war had been over for several years, 37% of Americans were veterans. That number went up in 1960 to 40% and in 1970 to 44%, during the Vietnam War era. It dropped by 1980 to 38% and has been on the decline since.
“Veterans deserve our respect and honor,” says Stinnett. “They took risks and many of them experienced horrors the rest of us never had to, and they did it to protect our freedom while we enjoyed that freedom.”
Numbers on first responders are harder to pin down, largely because people define “first responder” in different ways. According to the National Fire Protection Association, there are around 1,080,800 career and volunteer firefighters in the nation. According to Police Blue Nation, there are around 900,000 police officers.
Tamara Wolk is a reporter for The Catoosa County News in Ringgold, Ga., and Walker County Messenger in LaFayette, Ga.
What: Honoring Those Who Serve Parade
When: Saturday, Nov. 5, at 10 a.m.
Where: Lafayette Road, Fort Oglethorpe, from 558 Battlefield Parkway (Big Lots), south on Lafayette Road/US Highway 27 to Barnhardt Circle
There is still time for anyone who would like to honor veterans and first responders by being in the parade to do so.
Online parade application: https://fortogov.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/HTWS-Parade-Application-2022r2.pdf
Or contact Paula Stinnett at pstinnett@fortoglethorpega.gov
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