Several Veterans Day events are planned in the area.
Last Saturday, Nov. 7, the Wyandotte County Veterans Day Commemoration was held at the Salvation Army Harbor Light Village at 67th and State Avenue, Kansas City, Kan. For a story and photos from the event, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/vietnam-veterans-honored-at-veterans-day-commemoration/.
Bus fares free on Nov. 11 to veterans
According to an announcement, bus fares will be free to veterans on Veterans Day, Nov. 11. To honor area veterans, KCATA, Johnson County, Unified Government Transit and IndeBus will offer free fares to veterans on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Veterans should show their Department of Veterans Affairs VIC (Veterans Identification Card), United States Uniformed Services Identification Card or a Missouri or Kansas driver’s license or state-issued identification card displaying “Veteran” on the back of the license.
6th annual KCKCC Veterans Speak program
Veteran students, faculty and staff will look at their experiences as a veteran briefly, and then entertain a few questions from the student audience from 9 to 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, at the Jewell Student Center, Room 2325, KCKCC, 7250 State Ave., Kansas City, Kan.
On the program are Officer Robert Blanchard, a campus police officer, and Alan Van Hoozer, a KCKCC student. The group plans to discuss the POW-MIA Remembrance Ceremony and history about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers in Washington, D.C. The event is sponsored by Students for Global Peace, Ralph Bunche Society, Intercultural Center and the KCKCC Library.
Leavenworth Veterans Day parade scheduled Wednesday
The 96th annual Leavenworth Veterans Day parade will begin at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 11 in downtown Leavenworth.
This year’s parade theme is “Honoring All Who Served in Times of War and in Times of Peace.”
More than 250 participants have been invited to participate with more than 175 committed entries. The 2015 Parade Grand Marshal is Vietnam Navy veteran N. Dan Smith representing Disabled American Veterans Chapter 7, with parade chairman Vietnam Navy veteran Larry Burns, representing American Legion Byron H. Mehl Post 23. With this being the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, this parade is dedicated to the many Vietnam War veterans with appearance from the Centaurs, Troop D (Air) 3rd Squadron, 4th Cav, and Troop F (Air) 4th Cav, in Vietnam from March 1967-February 1973, Manhattan, Kan. Navy Band Great Lakes, Great Lakes, Ill., will be marching in parade and will also give a free concert performance, open to the public, at 7 p.m. Nov. 10 at Fort Leavenworth Post Theater.
The Washington High School Air Force JROTC from Kansas City, Kan., will be participating in the Leavenworth parade.
The parade will start at 4th and Cherokee Street and will go through downtown Leavenworth, east to Esplanade, north to Delaware, south to Cherokee, and will end at 5th and Cherokee Street, Leavenworth. For more information, see http://www.lvvetsparade.com/.
Johnson County to hold Veterans Day observance
Johnson County will honor all war veterans at its annual Veterans Day observance. Special recognition is planned for World War II veterans in commemorating the 70th anniversary of the ending of that war, and for Vietnam veterans in celebrating the 40th anniversary of when that war ended. About 50 World War II and 35 Vietnam veterans are expected to be in attendance.
Johnson County’s Veterans Day observance takes place from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Nov. 11 at the Lenexa National Guard Armory, at 18200 W. 87th St. Parkway in Lenexa, Kan. This year’s speakers include Brig. Gen. Victor Braden, with the Kansas National Guard and U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts. U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-3rd Dist., also is expected to attend the Johnson County Veterans Day observance.
Ceremony to be held at Veterans Memorial
The Rev. Peter Jaramillo, a military chaplain who is the pastor of Holy Family, St. John the Baptist and St. Mary-St. Anthony churches in Kansas City, Kan., will give a tribute to veterans at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, at the Veterans Memorial, Resurrection Cemetery, 83rd and Quivira, Lenexa, Kan. There will be a flag-raising ceremony. Music will be by the American Legion Band at 1:30 p.m.