The Portsmouth, New Hampshire parade route:
Bigger version of the map and more details are the official site.
The Austin, Texas parade route and schedule:
The parade will travel up Congress Ave. from the bridge over Lady Bird Lake to the Capitol. There will be a short ceremony on the south steps of the Capitol followed by the Job and Resource Fair downstairs in the Capitol Extension.
Schedule:
- 7:00 AM: Assembly in staging area on the Congress Avenue bridge.
- 9:00 AM: Parade begins.
- 11:00 AM: Ceremony on south steps of the State Capitol.
- 11:30 AM: Job and Resource Fair begins in Capitol Extension.
- 4:00 PM: End of Job and Resource Fair.
Be sure the check the official Austin parade site for last minute changes and other details, as well as how to participate and related links.
Leave a Comment:
Thanks for mentioning the parades!
I would love to see you host Admiral Mullen. The comments he shared need to be openly discussed in many circles. It is a little known fact; children (regarless of age) of deployed service members often display the same PTSD symptoms as their parents. In turn, making the "home coming" very difficult for the entire family. Symptoms can last over a year or show up years later.
I tried to reach out to Rachel without publicly commenting but there seems to be no other way than this. I hate to be negative b/c I adore Rachel and everything she is about. But the parades give me a chance to give voice, a small voice, to a family member of a Marine who didn't come home. We did see Admiral Mullen, he was giving my daughter the US flag at Arlington at my son-in-law's burial. The parades are great but just like people get excited about going to Arlington Cemetery, remember why you're there. There are people who have died for you who can't be members of a float. The aftermath of his death has led to my husband leaving me after 20-some years, me trying to be with my daughter as much as possible (East/West Coasts) and just generally ruining so many lives I can't even begin to count them. My son-in-law was deployed in Fallujah during the fiercest battles, then helped Katrina victims and was in Afghanistan at the end. Please remember these men and women while you are waving the flag and smiling at the returning veterans, as well they should be welcomed home. But there is a cost to everything.
I hope all anti-war veterans of America's attempted imperial conquests will show up to bring a little truth to these otherwise-stupid events. Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Against the War? IVAW? My old comrades in VVAW?
TC
1 year fighting for stupidity in Vietnam, 40 years fighting for intelligent responses to the @@##%%$$#!! empire.
Rachael,
Parades are just advertisements for the next stupid, immoral, foolhardy, unnecessary War (orgy of destruction ... Think Apocalypse Now). Wars are always a failure of leaders to find more effective ways to deal with issues of conflict and grievances. And the leaders who make those mistakes should be put on trial (I would go to a parade for that), not have the results of their immaturity put up for celebration. I think (and hope), that Rachael's plea for all these Parades is for the morale boosting, of those who were put in the "War Situation"? So they do not feel neglected or unappreciated. That I understand. However having a Parade one day for Vets is like saying "here drink this sugary drink, and have this cheap piece of cake ... And I sure hope you find a good meal somewhere else". It says nothing about the Vets experience, or the consequences of that experience. It says nothing about the War that was fought, or what War does to people, societies, countries. civilians. Why not have a Parade to Veteran's Hospital to see what War does to the human body? Why not have a Parade to the Psychiatric wards to see what war does to the human psyche? Why not have Parade to visit the homeless Vets on the street who have been unable to put their lives back together after their "Tour of Duty". Why not have a Parade to information resources that explain the real reasons behind War, not to support the pablum that is spun by cowering politicians both in and out of the Military? As our Greatest War Hero, and most decorated veteran, Smedley Butler once said "War is a Racket" ... Nothing in the intervening time has changed, excerpt for man's destructive capability. So Parades of "War Celebration"? After the amnesiatic celebrating is over, the bunting comes down and banners are packed away, (until required for the now promoted, currently unknown, yet inevitable, next war). As the cheap glow of the Parade fades, the people head home, for a vodka and tonic, and the latest Survivor episode. The Parade having made them none the wiser of what War is really like, or what those marching in the Parade have been through .......... "On Their Behalf".
Smedley Butler Jr
Hear, hear. I still say: If you want to thank a vet, quit making so many.
Hopefully all antiwar veterans of America's imperial misadventures of the past 50 years will show up to bring a little truth to these celebrations of stupidity of those stupid enough to believe the lies of the 1% and fight for them.
TC
(veteran of the Tonkin Gulf never-happened "Incident" - 1 year being a moron, 47 years opposing the empire)
The goal of parades may be sincere but they are gratuitious. As a Nam veteran, I did not want a parade. I just wanted to return to a normal life. Give the vets jobs, not symbolic gestors.
For what it's worth, this event includes a job and resource fair for the veterans after the parade.
Sally: what it's worth ain't much. Nothing, compared to giving up years of freedom, or limbs.