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Chattanooga Times Free Press Supports veterans with their news story that appeared April 28, 2007.

By Karina Gonzalez
Staff Writer

Don Loftis, who served as a pilot for the U.S. Army in Vietnam, remembers from childhood the Scenic City's annual parade to honor those serving in the nation's military.

"When I was a child my mother would take me to the Armed Forces Day parade in Chattanooga. That was in the 1950s," said Mr. Loftis, a former Hamilton County Schools superintendent. "She would take Friday off to take me and my brother to the Armed Forces Day parade, and I always tried to take my kids."

More than five decades later and after several years serving in Germany and Vietnam, Mr. Loftis, 65, now is the civilian chairman for the 58th Armed Forces Day parade scheduled to take place in downtown Chattanooga next Friday morning.

"It's an honorable thing to do, and very few communities have a formal parade to honor the people who are serving," he said. "And I am proud that we do."

Hamilton County Schools students will be able to participate in the parade, which kicks off at Market Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard. As many as 5,000 people are expected to participate in and attend the parade, the nation's longest continual such event honoring military servicemen and women.

"This is a way of recognizing what they are doing for the country," said Pete Chaney, who served with the Army during the Korean War.

Mr. Chaney said the Chattanooga Area Veteran's Council, which coordinates projects for 47 organizations, has sponsored the parade since 1994, when there was talk of canceling it. Each year the parade honors one branch of service. The Air Force will be honored this year.

"It's a tradition in Chattanooga and in America since 1950," Mr. Chaney said.

Capt. Marty Malone is military project officer. Gen. Bruce Carlson will be the keynote speaker for the luncheon at noon in the Convention and Trade Center after the parade.

E-mail Karina Gonzalez at kgonzalez@timesfreepress.com

IF YOU GO
* What: Armed Forces Day parade
* Where: Market Street, downtown Chattanooga
* When: Friday, April 4
* Time: 10:30 a.m.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information about the Armed Forces Day parade, visit http://www.ipspress.com/parade.htm.