Veterans Day Parade Set For Friday in NYC

MY9TV.com - New York City’s Veterans Day Parade, the largest in the nation, begins with a Memorial Ceremony and wreath laying, featuring elected officials and top military officers and veterans, Friday, November 11, at 10 a.m. in Madison Square Park. Media check-in at 23rd Street and Broadway.

After remarks by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others, dignitaries will lay wreaths at the Eternal Light Memorial in the park.

The parade steps off at 11:11 a.m. and proceeds up Fifth Avenue to 56th Street. Participants include:

· Medal of Honor recipients Dakota Meyer and Nicholas Oresko, 94, the nation’s oldest living honoree;

· Cuba Gooding Jr., riding on a float with the Tuskegee Airmen;

· Actor Tom Selleck;

· Flag officers from all services;

· Veterans from World War II to Afghanistan;

· Active-duty units and high school bands from around the nation.

A 16-foot statue “De Oppresso Liber (to free the oppressed),” depicting an American Green Beret on horseback, will be on display starting at 8:30 a.m. on 26th Street between Broadway and Fifth Avenue and will be in the parade. The sculpture by Douwe Blumberg honors 9/11 First Responders and the Special Forces who were the first to participate in Operation Enduring Freedom to liberate Afghanistan 10 years ago.