Detroit's long-running Veterans Day Parade continues to grow
Detroit always honors the men and women who have served our country on the Sunday before Veterans Day.
The annual Detroit Veterans Day Parade took place on Sunday. This year marked 20 years since organizers first started it.
Not even the cold and snow could stop the event.
"It makes me feel really, really good, because we've worked really hard. All of our guys are volunteers," Joe Salvia, parade co-founder and veteran, said. "We make no money. We work a lot of hours to make this happen. Whether it rains or shines, we are still here."
Twenty years ago, Salvia was at a convention with other veterans when he got an idea.
"I said, 'Why don't we get together and let's rekindle and restart the Detroit Veterans Day Parade. So that was kind of how it got launched," he said.
This year, 85 organizations registered to walk in the parade.
"This is the most that we've had throughout the last 20 years, and that's just because it keeps growing every year the word gets out," Jerry Eden, parade manager and veteran, said.
A ceremony inside the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 58 headquarters kicked the event off.
"Every veteran that I've ever met, when it comes to the Detroit veterans parade, shows up for one reason only, and that is to celebrate veterans. They don't care who you are. They don't care your political ideology. It's all about veterans. To them, they come here because they like being part of something," Eden said.
That's how World War II veteran and Oak Park, Michigan, resident Art Fishman feels.
"It's always nice to come here, because all of a sudden, I got a family again. I got to look at it that way," Fishman said.
He turns 99 years old in February.
"We love Art. He comes to all the parades, he drove down here today and I'm so deeply proud to call him my friend. You are my dear friend," Democratic U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, who represents Michigan's 11th Congressional District, said.
Lawmakers bundled up in winter coats and waved to the spectators as runners raced alongside the parade route for the 4-mile run.
"Since George Washington, all the way to today, 44 million men and women served our country, so we need to kind of remember them at least once during the year," Salvia said.