Welcome Home parade in Richmond, VA May 19, 2012

OK, let me try this again. Sorry it took so long, but uploading 200 pictures and a 28-minute video takes a while, I guess.

It was indeed a beautiful Spring day in Richmond yesterday as you can see in this video (by the way, my videographer, Shakey McShakes of Shaketown is now looking for work if you’re interested in hiring someone who can simulate a Zumba Fitness Party during an earthquake). The video is 28 minutes long and covers every bit of the parade.

Before the parade began, I walked the 1.5 mile route to see if I could root out any protesters, and the only ones I saw were were some Pro-Life zealots who were holding a prayer meeting on one corner. Yeah, I’m pro-life, too, but I don’t know what it has to do with a Welcome Home parade. Context, guys.

But here are some of the signs that greeted the troops when they marched;

The high point, for me, was the Grand Marshall of the parade, retired Marine Colonel Wesley Fox, a 43-year veteran, resident of Virginia and recipient of the Medal of Honor. Col. Fox held every enlisted rank except Sergeant Major (which is probably why he was so awesome) before becoming a commissioned officer.

Of course, he was accompanied by Marines;

While the Army rode;

There were several hundred bikers in the parade;

The VFW Ladies’ Auxiliary honored the local folks who had fallen;

They had some “vintage” vehicles in the parade, too. This one gave me flashbacks of all of the times I had MP jeeps with lights flashing and sirens blaring and coming right at me.

I could go on and on about the parade, but you’d probably rather see the 200 photos I took at My Flickr Photostream.

Afterwards, under the shadow of the World War I Memorial, local organizations set up a Veterans’ Resource Center and displayed what they offered veterans. In fact, if there’s anyone out there looking for work in Virginia, I can almost guarantee you a job, especially if you’re a school-trained instructor. One lady in particular was begging me to find her some veterans to work at Fort Lee. So, if you email me, I’ll send you her contact info.

Thanks to Concrete Bob for making me go to the parade. We had a great time. And I finally got to see Coby Dillard, a good friend who I haven’t seen since before the last election. It was a great day.

ADDED: I forgot to mention that I also met Cargo Squid. So I’m putting more faces to more names these days.

Category: Protests/Rallies, Support the troops