Columbia, South Carolina has one of the largest Veterans Day parades in the United States!

Date: November 11th
Time: Starts 10:50 a.m.
Place: Downtown Columbia
The parade route starts at the Laurel & Sumter Street intersection and runs south on Sumter Street to Gervais Street.

Columbia's Veterans Day Parade honors all veterans with a procession of high school marching bands, floats, military vehicles and equipment, military marching installations and a fly-over.

CLICK HERE for pictures (from Mel Coker) of the 2008 Veterans Day Parade

Click Here for a Columbia Weather Report

MORE LINKS:
Veterans Day - Department of Veterans Affairs | Veterans Day - Wikipedia | History of Veterans Day - USArmy.mil | Veterans Day - InfoPlease.com | Home of Heroes
Celebrating America's Freedoms
Military Bases in South Carolina

Veterans Day is largely intended to thank living veterans for their service, to acknowledge that their contributions to United States national security are appreciated, and to underscore the fact that all those who served - not only those who died - have sacrificed and done their duty. PLEASE BE SURE TO THANK A VETERAN FOR THEIR SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY!

Memorial Park - Columbia, SC

Memorial Park is located in downtown Columbia on four acres of land. The property is bordered by Hampton, Gadsden , Washington and Wayne Streets and is one block south of Finlay Park.

The park was dedicated in November 1986 along with the unveiling of the South Carolina Vietnam Monument.

Current monument memorials include: Vietnam (one of the largest in the United States outside of Washington, D.C.); World War I; USS Columbia warship; China-Burma-India Theater Veterans of WWII; Pearl Harbor; Korean War; Holocaust.

S.C. Vietnam Monument

Holocaust & Vietnam Monuments

Korean Monument

World War I Monument

USS Columbia Monument

Pearl Harbor Monument

Remembering... at the SC Vietnam Memorial

*** All pictures by Mel Coker ***

Interesting Information!

Did you know...

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society is located in South Carolina? It is! The Medal of Honor Museum is located in Mt. Pleasant at Patriot's Point in Charleston Harbor.
Congressional Medal of Honor Society | Medal of Honor Memorial Museum | Patriots Point - Charleston Harbor, SC

America's MOST decorated soldier from ANY international war was born in South Carolina? He was! No one has received more decorations than one Staff Sergeant Joe R. Hooper. Joe Hooper was born August 8, 1938, in Piedmont, S.C (later moved to and raised in Washington State). He received more combat decorations than Alvin York did in World War I or Audie Murphy in World War II. He was the most highly decorated soldier of the Vietnam War. During two combat tours, he earned 37 medals, including the Medal of Honor, two Silver Stars, six Bronze Stars and eight Purple Hearts. The Army credited him with killing 115 North Vietnamese.
Pictures & Citation | Arlington National Cemetery website | Joe Hooper - Wikipedia | You should know soldier Joe Hooper

The 60th Doolittle Raid Reunion was held in Columbia, SC? It was!
Doolittle Raider 60th Reunion in Columbia, SC | Doolittle Raid - Wikipedia

"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
General and Commander-in-Chief & First President of the United States of America