Saturday is Veterans Day. Here on the First Coast both Jacksonville and St. Augustine will be holding parades to honor the service of our veterans.
The City of St. Augustine boasts an all-military parade with marching bands, military vehicles, a fly-over by military aircraft and units from all branches of the service.
Bill Dudley with the Veterans Council of St. Johns County said the parade gets underway with the booming of cannons.
“And then, after the firing of the cannons, the churches in downtown St. Augustine will start ringing their bells for one minute so that’s actually the launch of the parade,” Dudley said.
The parade starts at 11 a.m. in front of the Castillo de San Marcos.
Jacksonville’s annual Veterans Day Parade will start at EverBank Field and wind its way through downtown to the Prime Osborn Convention Center. It kicks off at 11:01 tomorrow morning.
Veterans Day originally marked the anniversary of the end of World War I, which officially took place at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.
It was later expanded in 1954 to recognize the service of all veterans.
Contact reporter Cyd Hoskinson at choskinson@wjct.org, 904-358-6351 and on Twitter @cydwjctnews.
