Holbert is executive director of the American Veterans Center. The group is organizing the 2012 National Memorial Day Parade, which will take place May 28 on Constitution Avenue in the District.
Can you tell me about this year’s parade? It’ll have thousands of participants, including many, many hundreds of active duty military personnel. The parade itself is kind of a moving timeline of American military history, so we’ll have reenactors of colonial, continental soldiers, fife and drum bands and so on all the way through to Civil War reenactors to World War II (where actual veterans will take part) to Korea, Vietnam and the present day.
You’re doing something special for the troops who served in Iraq. Why is it important to do this? There were tremendous stories of valor coming out of Iraq. Iraq obviously was a very controversial war politically, but there’s no doubt that the men and women that served in Iraq served with tremendous courage and honor, and in many cases great valor. And the sacrifices of this generation need to be recognized. What we’re doing is including a very special tribute to not only Iraq War veterans, but, keeping with the purpose of Memorial Day, those who really made the ultimate sacrifice in Operation Iraqi Freedom. In addition to the active-duty troops that will be participating as part of the parade’s big grand finale, we’ll also be including families of the fallen from Iraq and Iraq War veterans.
What have you liked about the parade in years past? The great thing about the parade is that it’s something that really brings people together. The audience for the parade is just a mixture of all ages, families out, D.C. locals, tourists in from town. It’s something that really rallies all Americans together to recognize the sacrifices made by our military men and women from over the generations. – Naomi Jagoda
