Veterans Day honored in many different ways

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Frigid bouts of rain weren’t enough to keep crowds from lining Arlington Avenue to watch the Veterans Day parade. Approximately 70 groups, including marching bands, JROTC students and veterans’ associations, marched on Saturday from Fifth to Court Street, while crowds huddled under umbrellas and zipped up their jackets.
The parade route changed from previous years because of construction on Virginia Street.
Brian O’Connell, who served with the 1st Calvary Division and is a member of Carson City’s Vietnam Veterans Chapter 388, said he was glad to see a swell of patriotism in Northern Nevada’s youth visible in the large numbers of JROTC students participating in Saturday’s parade. Others agreed.
“There are so many students who are willing to get involved (in JROTC) – it was an enthusiastic gathering,” said Jacque Dockery, a preschool teacher from Sun Valley. “It gives hope for future generations.”
Cadet Sgt. Maj. Jeff Steele of the Galena Grizzlies Battalion led an elite color guard made of JROTC members from 11 Northern Nevada high schools. He said they walked Arlington Avenue with pride to be alongside veterans.
“Veterans Day is a great day to let people see what the JROTC program is all about, and see how we’re motivating our kids to become better citizens.” Steele said. “We pay lots of respect to our veterans.”
Vietnam veteran Chuck Fulkerson, who served with the 14th Infantry Regiment, 25th Division, said he honored Veterans Day by calling for improvements. He marched with the group Veterans for Change.
“We’re trying to save lives by getting more support in Iraq to get the job done, and more support for veterans after they get back,” Fulkerson said. “The VA is only serving 8 million veterans out of a veteran population of 25 million.”
Miguel "Mike" Arrendondo, Jr. (cq) annually meets some of his 173 Airborne Brigade brothers to march in Reno’s Veteran’s Day Parade, even though none of the 10 who arrived this year live in Reno. Some commuted from New Mexico and Las Vegas to receive a heroes’ welcome that many Vietnam veterans were denied when they first came home.
“I thought it was really nice, especially now that Americans are starting to recognize the Vietnam Veterans,” Arrendondo of Manteca, Calif. said. “We have been called ‘the forgotten warriors,’ so it’s really nice that America is developing a conscience.”
“Reno is a great place for us to come,” fellow 173 Airborne Brigade member Robert E. Linscott, Jr. said. “It’s really veteran friendly. I look at all the ROTC kids and go ‘wow.’”
The 173 Airborne Brigade, the only unit to conduct a combat parachute jump in Vietnam (cq), recently experienced another source of rejuvenation.
Linscott said they had called themselves the “Last Man’s Club” because their unit had been disbanded. Those who served in Vietnam were to be the last associated with the unit’s traditions. But 173 Airborne Brigade was reactivated in 2000 and approximately 1,000 new members created new history for the unit when they parachuted into northern Iraq on March 26, 2003 (cq).
“It’s great to see (the unit carry on), Linscott said. “We love it.”
The Last Man’s Club changed into an organization to support the new 173rd members.
“We saw them and we said to ourselves ‘Were we ever that young?’” Linscott said. “We certainly weren’t that handsome.”