Northeast Portland Community Celebrates our National Heroes

WWII Veteran Don Malarkey served as Grand Marshal at the 39th Annual Veterans Day Parade.

WWII "Buffalo Soldiers" were one of many groups well represented at the Veteran's parade. Photo: Angie Bachara

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - It is the sacrifice and dedication of generations of men and women that we celebrate on Veteran’s Day.

The awe and excitement of a parade brought young and old to the Hollywood district of Portland, Oregon for the 39th annual Veteran’s Day Parade.

The heart of American patriotism showed on everyone’s sleeve as the procession advanced down Sandy Boulevard.

This year featured WWII Veteran Don Malarkey as Grand Marshal; Don is an Oregon native well known for his portrayal in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers.

The end of the parade included a flag raising ceremony for all to attend.

It was a time for honoring those who have gone before and those who continue to represent the might of our American armed forces, the history of our country whose freedom has been hard won and the future of all of our friends and family, brothers and sisters.

Photos by Angie Bachara for Salem-News.com

I was taken back in memory to a time I stood in Washington, D.C. in front of the Vietnam Memorial and was brought to tears by the weight of the lives measured on that wall.

A time when gazing up at the enormity of the Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima), inspired me to be a better person, a better American.

Watching the groups of veterans, soldiers, city leaders, community members and children walking with their schools and scout groups, it struck me how connecting it is for us to be able to gather and celebrate our fellows having given so much of themselves for the American cause, the American way and the American dream.

Though not a veteran myself, I am thankful for those who have given so much to the United States for an ideal that spans back hundreds of years to the early beginnings of our country, proud that our city and others around the country came together to celebrate our national heroes.

I am awed that passing this tradition on to our young people continues, so that we may remain the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Thank you to all of the veterans out there who have endured so much for our collective American future.

May your lives and families be blessed in return. (Youtube unreliable failure)