Armed Forces Parade

Today our little city of Bremerton turned out to watch the annual Armed Forces parade. Ours is one of the biggest parades in the country, which is astounding considering the size of the city. But we are a navy town and you could tell that today by the large turnout in spite of a steady rain which was anything but warm. Felt more like March than May!
Still, all branches of the armed forces came out and every high school and middle school band dutifully braved the rain and cold to play for us. Service organizations, city officials - everyone was there. It was so great to see such a huge turnout considering what a cold, rainy day it was. Still, everyone was in a festive mood.
There's something unifying about this kind of event. Seeing all the branches of the service represented - so many!- drove home to me that a lot of people are risking their lives so that I can happily sit home and write. I certainly came away appreciating all the young people who feel called to make defending us their career. So I applauded and hooted along with everyone else as they marched by or drove past in vintage army jeeps. And I took pictures, of course.
Loved the guys giving out hot dogs and potato chips! Lucky Gerhardt got a hot dog. I, alas, am dieting so no hot dog for me. Wah.
Still, I had fun in spite of getting drenched. I felt badly for all those school kids in the drill teams and marching bands. Hope they were all properly rewarded with hot chocolate when they got home!
As for all the military folks who came out... thank you for your service!