A Veterans Day Celebration for All Ages

Phoenix, Ariz. - In November 1955, smoke billowed over the hills and the sounds of gunfire echoed through Vietnam as American soldiers began to fight a war that lasted two decades. Today, those same soldiers were surrounded by clapping, honking, and screams of “God Bless America” at the 25th Phoenix Veteran’s Day Parade.

In honor of Veteran’s day Arizonians lined the streets of Phoenix to watch a parade containing 15 marching units, over 2,000 marchers and 10 floats. Parents brought their children to enjoy the event, but for some families it is an opportunity to teach their children about why school was cancelled for this holiday.

Kaleena Kane-Barrios, mother of 5, brought her children, ages ranging between 6 months old to 9 years old, to the parade. She said that her children’s school prompted families to attend the event on their day off.

“My mom and my dad personally were in the army, so they’re veterans so they know the struggle and just how much people have to give up in order to give us what we have now,” said Kane-Barrios. “Kids grow up now a days and they have so much, or they are entitled to so much in a sense you know, so we are just showing them what other people really had to give up in order to get what we have.”

There is a large age gap between the children that were present at the parade and the Veterans that were represented. This age discrepancy has caught the attention of many veterans, causing them to feel that children are not made aware of the sacrifices made in war.

Vietnam Veteran Sylvestre Primous attended the parade today from his wheelchair and explained that he received a purple heart award while in Vietnam. “We started getting mortar rounds coming in on us and all of the sudden one happened to land a few feet from me, and it hit me in my legs so,” said Primous.

Primous said that he feels that kids deserve to have conversations about war and have their questions answered. He hopes this will help to connect young people with veterans.

“I love the kids and I love talking to them, I love to get them enthused. I like talking to them and they’ve got a lot of questions about war and why people go to war and all that other stuff, and if we get to them at a young age then we won’t be so eager to go to war.” said Primous.

During the parade, a sea of red shirts marched the street representing the Veterans Heritage Project. All of the participants were in middle school and high school.

The Veterans Heritage Project is a school club where students are able to interview veterans and write their stories. Those stories are then placed into the library of Congress in order to share those experiences with the world, according to Kennedy Keller, a student at Cactus Shadows High School and 5th year Veterans Heritage Project member.

“You always learn about it in history class, but it’s different than actually learning about it and hearing it from the veterans. It’s a very cool club and I think it means a lot to veterans,” said Keller.

Arnold Sutton, Vietnam Veteran, watched the parade with company that he quickly introduced as his friends from when he served in Vietnam. He said that seeing kids having fun at the parade “makes us feel good.”

“I don’t want people to forget about the sacrifices. This isn’t about us. God brought us home, no matter what we saw or what we did He brought us home. But we lost some friends, so it is really about them,” said Sutton.

Sutton said that he isn’t sure that kids fully understand the meaning behind Veteran’s day, but he believes that the event will be something that the kids will never forget.

“They are enjoying the parade and they will remember it. Someday it’ll come to them. ‘Hey… something about those guys!’. So yea the parades are good, we need to be motivated because it benefits the kids a lot,” said Sutton.