Thousands line Las Vegas sidewalks for Veterans Day parade — PHOTOS
The roar of hundreds of motorcycles kicked off the Las Vegas Veterans Day parade on Monday.
U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., rode down Fourth Street on the back of a bike, and Mayor Carolyn Goodman watched, waving from her pink Cadillac with husband and former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.
“Thank you, servicemen, women, for serving this country. We are so grateful.” said Mayor Goodman as she entered the parade route.
This year’s parade was expected to draw 30,000 to 40,000 visitors and an estimated 120 floats. About 18 ROTC platoons and eight bands marched.
Drum cadences, chanting and singing echoed through the streets, while representatives from each branch of the military made their way along the route.
Members of the United States Overseas walked proudly and sang “Proud to be an American.”
Members of the Blue Star Mothers Club from Henderson, who support mothers of servicemen and women, drove through the parade with “God Bless The U.S.A.” booming from their red Corvette’s speakers.
“I have three children in the military,” said Melissa Clipper, a Blue Star Mother from Las Vegas. Her daughter, Brianna Creveling, and her four grandchildren walked alongside her in the parade.
Creveling is serving in the Air Force as a pharmacy technician. Her older brother is also in the Air Force and her sister is in the Army. “I think it is amazing to see all these people out supporting veterans,” she said.
After seeing the Blue Angels perform at Nellis Air Force Base two years ago, 7-year-old Brandon Kirklin, Clipper’s grandson, said, “I wanna join the Navy and fly planes!”
Children were waving flags, sporting red white and blue, and shouting “Horsey! Horsey!” as the Buffalo Soldiers rode by.
The crowd bellowed with excitement as a man from one float yelled, “Make some noise if you love America!”
The Morales family, which recently moved to North Las Vegas from Alaska, came out to support father Marcelo Morales, who has been serving in the Air Force for 18 years and is stationed at Nellis Air Force Base.
Morales’ 3-year-old triplet boys were wearing matching Superman shirts with red capes attached. Barbara Morales, his wife and the mother of the boys, asked one of them, “Is your daddy a superhero?”
“He’s been deployed a couple of times,” Morales said of her husband.
Parade organizers bill the event as the “largest Veterans Day parade west of the Mississippi.”
“America’s Got Talent” winner Michael Grimm opened the parade by singing the national anthem.
Contact reporter Kimberly De La Cruz at 702-383-0381, kdelacruz@reviewjournal.com or on Twitter @KimberlyinLV
