The City of Natchez will host its annual Veterans Day Parade at 11 a.m. Wednesday, November 11, honoring military veterans and recognizing two individuals for their service.
Charlie Thomas will serve as grand marshal and Stephen J. Collins will be honored as Veteran of the Year.
Thomas, 82, retired as a staff sergeant in 1992 from the Mississippi and Louisiana National Guard after 27 years of service. He said he was happy to learn he had been chosen to serve as this year’s grand marshal. “It is quite an honor,” he said. During the First Gulf War, Thomas received recognition from Saudi Arabia for his military service. He said the country honored him with a medal and certificate for helping defend it.
Collins is a decorated U.S. Army veteran who retired as a captain in 2002. From 2000 to 2001, he deployed with the 1st Armored Division in support of Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. During the deployment, he was wounded by enemy gunfire and subsequently awarded the Purple Heart, according to retired Air Force Lt. Col. Herman Curry Jr., instructor of Natchez High School’s AFJROTC program.
Since 2003, Collins has served as a mathematics and technology educator and athletic coach in communities throughout Louisiana and Mississippi.
“Veterans Day is one of the most important days of the year in that it is a day we celebrate those who have served our country and given so much to preserve our freedoms,” said Mayor Dan M. Gibson. “May we be reminded this Veterans Day that freedom is not free. It comes at a price, and may we forever be grateful to those men and women in uniform here at home and abroad who have paid that price.”
Parade participants will gather for the line-up at 10:30 a.m. at Memorial Park. In addition to Gibson, participants will include the Natchez High School AFJROTC, the Natchez High School Band, and area veterans walking and riding golf carts, according to Gabi Crousillac, retired Army major and chair of the Mayor’s Veterans Task Force.
Crousillac said all golf cart owners and local motorcycle riders are invited and encouraged to decorate their vehicles for the parade.
The parade will begin at Memorial Park on Main Street and proceed to the bandstand on South Broadway Street, where presentations will be made by several individuals and groups, including the Mayor’s Youth Council.
Crousillac will serve as the mistress of ceremonies.
“As a veteran, it is my privilege to be the mistress of ceremonies of the Annual Veterans Day Parade and Recognition Program,” Crousillac said. “It’s more than a parade. It’s an opportunity for our community to come together to acknowledge and remember the women and men who wore the uniform and proudly served our country.”
Comments