Monterey County Veterans Day Parade
PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif.-- Dignitaries, business owners and local community members gathered in Old Town Salinas to honor military veterans at the 8th annual Monterey County Veterans Day Parade Nov. 11.
Capt. Rich Wiley, Commanding Officer, Naval Postgraduate School served as the Grand Marshal. Other military leaders from the Presidio of Monterey, Defense Language Institute and Naval Postgraduate School joined Capt. Wiley to pay tribute to all military veterans, past and present.
Soledad High School's NJROTC color guard led the parade -while the Defense Language Institute's joint service color guard from the Presidio of Monterey led formations of service members from the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Rep. Jimmy Panetta, a Navy veteran, swore in a group of military enlistees for all four military branches.
The U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team descended onto Salinas as the opening act of the parade and joined the procession to meet and greet parade spectators.
As the procession made its way down Main Street, spectators saluted veterans riding in a variety of vintage, classic, military and modern vehicles driven by car owners who volunteered to drive veterans in the parade.
The parade included eight marching bands, motorcycle clubs, military Humvees and Junior ROTC cadets from Everett Alvarez and Soledad High Schools.
PHOTO by Joseph Kumzak, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs. Original public domain image from Flickr