Veterans Day 2016 is just around the corner! As the Phoenix Veterans Day Parade team puts the finishing touches on the plans for the 20th annual parade, we thought it would be prudent to take a look at some memorable words from some noteworthy individuals about veterans. Please enjoy them as you make plans to join us for the Phoenix Veterans Day Parade next Friday, November 11, to honor all veterans – past and present.
“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.”
‒ Elmer Davis
“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!
‒ Maya Angelou
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
‒ John Fitzgerald Kennedy
“My heroes are those who risk their lives every day to protect our world and make it a better place – police, firefighters, and member of our armed forces.”
‒ Sidney Sheldon
“Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.”
‒ Dwight D. Eisenhower
“I think there is one higher office than president and I would call that patriot.”
‒ Gary Hart
“Freedom is never free.”
‒ Author unknown
“America’s veterans have served their country with the belief that democracy and freedom are ideals to be upheld around the world.”
‒ John Doolittle
“The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.”
‒ Patrick Henry
“Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country’s cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause.”
‒ Abraham Lincoln
“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.”
‒ Billy Graham
“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.”
‒ George Washington
“Americans should always honor our veterans. At this moment, we especially need the example of their character. And we need a new generation to set examples of its own, examples in service and sacrifice and courage. These veterans have shaped our history, and with their values, your generation will help guide our future.”
‒ George W. Bush
“The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example.”
‒ Benjamin Disraeli
“It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.”
‒ H. Norman Schwarzkopf
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”
‒ Ronald Reagan
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
‒ Nelson Mandela
“We few, we Band of Brothers. For he who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.”
‒ William Shakespeare, “Henry V”
“In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.”
‒ Mark Twain
“Valor is a gift. Those having it never know for sure whether they have it till the test comes. And those having it in one test never know for sure if they will have it when the next test comes.”
‒ Napolean Bonaparte
We hope you will join us at the 20th Annual Phoenix Veterans Day Parade on November 11, 2016, to see Celebrity Grand Marshal Pete Hegseth and all eight Veteran Grand Marshals. This year’s parade theme is “Welcome Home Vietnam Heroes.” The parade typically boasts more than 100 entries, and this year will have a special float with nearly 20 Vietnam Veterans riding on it. The parade will also feature patriotic floats, high school marching bands, JROTC marching units, color guards, Veterans Service Organizations, animals, novelty units and much, much more.
For more information on the parade and the parade route, click HERE.