City of Anchorage honors past and present vets

Published Nov. 18, 2015
By Staff Sgt. William Banton
JBER Public Affairs

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The City of Anchorage, Alaska State and Federal officials and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson leadership gathered in downtown Anchorage to honor service members, past and present, in the inaugural Anchorage Veterans Day Parade, Nov. 7.

The parade, hosted by the Anchorage Veterans Day Parade Committee, featured personnel and equipment from JBER, which included Soldiers from C Company, 3rd Battalion (Airborne), 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division; 673d Civil Engineer Squadron fire trucks; 673d Security Forces Squadron patrol vehicle; and a Humvee from the 176th Security Forces Squadron. The parade also highlighted Junior ROTC cadets, members of a combat veterans association, and American Legion riders who participated to honor local veterans.

"It brought a tear to my eye when the last unit went by, simply because we made it happen," said Art Bell, President of the AVDPC. "Every man in my family has served. My father was a prisoner of war in Korea, my brother died from Agent Orange in Vietnam... I believe in doing what's right, and [this] needed to happen."

Reviewing officials for this year's parade included Canadian Armed Forces Col. Martin Frank, U.S. Army Alaska deputy commander; Air Force Col. Brian Bruckbuer, JBER and 673d Air Base Wing commander; Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz; senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan; and Gov. Bill Walker.

"Memorial Day is for those who have fallen and that has its place, and rightfully so," Bell said. "On the Fourth of July, we have a parade that has a veteran's component in it, but there has never been an active duty parade like we had today."

The planning for this year's parade was initiated by Tom Wozencraft, vice president of AVDPC, a local citizen who said he was surprised to find out, after moving to Alaska from Oklahoma, that Anchorage didn't have a Veterans Day parade.

"He's a gold star father, his son died in service; that's behind his motivation, that we need to honor all our veterans," Bell said.

Bell said he feels strongly that active duty service members generally get overlooked during the federal holiday, but many service members are just grateful to be able to give back.

"It's pretty important, supporting an inaugural parade; it's not something you get to do every day," said Cpl. Michael Sierras, a Soldier from C/3-509th. "It's great to be able to go out and show the public what the military has to offer while being able to give back to the community and those who have come before us."