Coming Up in Douglasville: Nation's Only Lighted Veterans Day Parade Ready for 15th Year

Submitted by Douglas County

The 15th annual Douglas County Veterans Day Lighted Parade will be held Veterans Day, Tuesday, November 11th, stepping off at 7 p.m. from Douglas County High School.

The annual parade is the only nighttime lighted Veterans Day Parade in the Nation, and features units that “light themselves up” for the procession.

Residents are invited to line the parade route to say “thank you” for our freedom. The parade route goes north on Campbellton Street; west on Church Street; and south on Bowdon, Woodrow and Campbellton Streets back to the high school. A performance area for bands and drill teams has been designated on Campbellton Street between BB&T Bank and Regions Bank.

The Grand Marshals for the Parade are the 49 Douglas County citizens who were killed in action in World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Members of the Town and Country and Sweetwater Garden Clubs will carry roses in their honor and memory in the Parade.

Active and Reserve military groups expected to be in the Parade include the United States Army; the United States Navy; the 3rd Squadron, 108th Cavalry Army Reserve; the 848th Engineer Company (Sapper) Army Reserve; and the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary 22 from Lake Allatoona.

Veterans in the Parade will be led by World War II Iwo Jima Veteran/Survivor Jim Stockton. Other veterans groups include those in active service in the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department and City of Douglasville Police Department; American Legion Post 145; AMVETS Post 188 and Auxiliary; and Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 935.

The Historic Marietta Trolley will be in the Parade for any active military, reserve or veteran who wishes to ride.

The Alexander High School and Douglas County High School Marching Bands will provide patriotic music, and JROTC units from Alexander High School, Chapel Hill High School, and Douglas County High School will march in the Parade. Flags will be presented by the United States Navy Sea Cadets Warrior Division and the Future Business Leaders of America club members from Chapel Hill and New Manchester High Schools. Parade division banners will be carried by members of the Lithia Springs High School National Honor Society.

Citizen groups saluting our Flag, active military, veterans and reserves will round out the Parade.

The Douglas County Veterans Day Lighted Parade is a program of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners through its Department of Communications and Community Relations.