Over 60 organizations rode down Green St. before cheering crowds Monday morning as Gainesville celebrated American Veterans during the annual Memorial Day Parade.
Festivities kicked off at 10 a.m. from the First Baptist Church on Green St. and ran south toward E.E. Butler Parkway, concluding at the Bank of America parking lot on Spring St. Crowds gathered on the sidewalks, cheering and waving as a host of local organizations passed by, including Rock Creek Veterans, Vietnam Veterans of America and Korean War Veterans.
“What would you like to say to young folks today who are not really familiar with why we're doing this, what message would you give them?” WDUN’s Mornings on Maine Street host Bill Maine asked one Navy veteran.
“Just to research it, understand it, know what it's all about,” he replied.
The Gainesville High School Marching Band took the parade by storm.
“Well, it's a community event and it is the Gainesville Memorial Day Parade, so we want the Gainesville High School band to be in the middle of it,” Marching Band Director Larry Miller said.
208 band students marched in the parade and performed their song “Salute to Freedom,” which Miller said was a variation of “America the Beautiful.”
“Memorial Day is very special to me,” Vietnam Veteran Johnny Hulsey said. “I made it home from Vietnam. The good Lord brought me home. And I'm a blessed man to be here. I lost my buddies over in Vietnam. And that's why we have the ceremony, is to pay a tribute to our brothers that didn't come home. That means everything to us.”
When asked how the public’s perception of Vietnam Veterans has changed over the years, Hulsey said it garners more respect now than it did when he initially came home.
“We weren’t welcome home,” Hulsey said. “We flew from Vietnam to Hawaii. Fueled the plane up, was on the ground for about two hours in Hawaii, and flew to San Francisco. Believe it or not, I was 20 years old after the war, and we had a layover in San Francisco. People were there calling us ‘baby killers,’ spitting at us. We went to a bar and they wouldn't even serve us a beer after we fought the war.”
Maine noted that fortunately, things have changed since then.
“People have stepped up to the plate and they respect the Vietnam Veterans' name,” Hulsey said.
