WASHINGTON — The National Memorial Day Parade will step off Monday — rain or shine.
“Even if there’s a chance of some leftover showers or sprinkles we hope people will come out, bring an umbrella or poncho, just in case, and be ready for a great program,” said Tim Holbert, executive director of the American Veterans Center, which has produced the parade for the past 11 years.
The parade begins at 2 p.m. on Constitution Avenue, at 7th Street Northwest, and marches past the museums, monuments and south lawn of the White House to 17th Street Northwest. There will be marching bands and floats paying tribute to those who gave the last full measure of devotion, in what organizers say is the biggest Memorial Day parade in the United States.
“The parade itself is set up as a moving timeline of American Military history — we have reenactors from the American Revolution, War of 1812, Civil War,” Holbert said. “So we’re trying to tell a story throughout the parade of American sacrifice from our very beginning to our present day.”
The parade will feature more than 2,000 active-duty military members and veterans led by legendary astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to set foot on the moon. Aldrin is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel.
