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This year’s Leavenworth County Veterans Day Parade to salute Vitenam veterans

By Shawn Linenberger - | Nov 6, 2015

Tonganoxie will be represented next week at one of the oldest parades in the nation.

Local veterans will participate in the Leavenworth County Veterans Day Parade, which will start at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11 in Leavenworth.

This year’s parade, which is the 96th annual installment of the celebration, will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War.

A parade vehicle for all Vietnam veterans to ride or walk alongside will be available for the parade.

Vietnam veterans wanting to ride the trailer can contact Col. (Ret.) Lynn Rolf at 913-775-1998, 913-684-2423 or lynnwrolfjr@gmail.com if they want to participate and ride the trailer. Those veterans should reserve seats/indicate their attendance by Friday.

Staging will take place along Fourth Street between Cherokee and Chocktaw starting at 9 a.m.

This year’s grand marshal is N. Dan Smith. Born in Fairmont, W. Va., Smith, 78, is a U.S. Navy veteran who served in Vietnam. Smith served many years in the military and held offices for various veteran organizations. He also worked in civil service for several years at Fort Leavenworth.

Smith works as a volunteer at the Dwight D. Eisenhower VA Medical Center in Leavenworth where he has volunteered for 40 years with a total of more than 14,869 of volunteer hours. He has served on the Leavenworth County Veterans Day Parade Committee for 30 years.

The parade will start at Fourth and Cherokee, heading east on Cherokee and then north on Esplanade for a block. The route then heads west on Delaware before heading south for a block on Seventh Street. The parade then will go east and conclude at VFW Post 56, the parade headquarters at Fifth and Cherokee.

Naval band performing Tuesday

Navy Band Great Lakes will give a free Veterans Day concert at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Fort Leavenworth Post Theater.

The event is open to the public.

“Pride in Service” has been the theme for Navy Band Great Lakes for more than a century. From 1911, when the band first formed, to 1917, when Lieutenant Commander John Philip Sousa served as bandmaster, to today, other group’s music represents the pride and professionalism that is synonymous with the U.S. Navy.

As the Navy’s musical “Ambassador to the Midwest,” Navy Band Great Lakes supports outreach in an 11-state area, stretching from Michigan to Missouri, North Dakota to Kansas, and every Midwestern state in between. With an average of 400 performances a year, Navy Band Great Lakes is proud to be a part of the Leavenworth Veterans Day Parade.