76.7 F
Charlotte Amalie
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsLocal newsMen and Women of Service Honored in Veterans Day Parades

Men and Women of Service Honored in Veterans Day Parades

Girl Scouts skip while holding hands as they parade through Veterans Drive on St. Thomas. (Source photo by Bethaney Lee)
Girl Scouts skip while holding hands as they parade through Veterans Drive on St. Thomas. (Source photo by Bethaney Lee)
A large military truck rolls down Veterans Drive on wheels that stand as tall as a man. (Source photo by Bethaney Lee)
A large military truck rolls down Veterans Drive on wheels that stand as tall as a man. (Source photo by Bethaney Lee)

Virgin Islanders came out to pay tribute to those who have served our country in two days of Veterans Day activities spanning across all three islands.

The commemoration started with an afternoon kickoff parade in Cruz Bay Sunday on St. John, followed by a 9:30 a.m. parade Monday in Frederiksted on St. Croix and finishing with a 3 p.m. parade down Veterans Drive in Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas.

Office of Veteran Affairs chose to highlight three veterans with 70 years of collective military experience: On St. John the retired Staff Sergeant Elvis Lewis, on St. Croix the retired Command Sergeant Major Charles David and on St. Thomas the retired Major General Cleave McBean.

Several groups and organizations were involved in the three parades including many of the islands’ schools, Girl Scouts of America, various branches of service and the USVI 73rd Army Band.

The streets rang with drums tapping out martial cadence and attendees delighted as instrumentalist from various marching bands performed patriotic compositions while marching down the street in uniform.

The theme for this year’s parades was “Service” which the Office of Veteran Affairs said, “covers every single service member that served at one point.”

The USVI 73rd Army Band leads the procession down Veterans Drive in St. Thomas. (Source photo by Bethaney Lee)
The USVI 73rd Army Band leads the procession down Veterans Drive on St. Thomas. (Source photo by Bethaney Lee)
Charlotte Amalie High School parades down Veterans Drive in St. Thomas with over 100 students joined in a unison march. (Source photo by Bethaney Lee)
Charlotte Amalie High School parades down Veterans Drive on St. Thomas with over 100 students joined in a unison march. (Source photo by Bethaney Lee)
Ivanna Eurdora Kean High School JROTC are in their dress blues marching down Veterans Drive in St. Thomas. (Source photo by Bethaney Lee)
Ivanna Eudora Kean High School JROTC are in their dress blues marching down Veterans Drive on St. Thomas. (Source photo by Bethaney Lee)
Several large military vehicles finish out the parade on St. Thomas. (Source photo by Bethaney Lee)
Several large military vehicles finish out the parade on St. Thomas. (Source photo by Bethaney Lee)
On St. John: After standing to honor veterans and their families, the crowd at Cruz Bay listens to a speech by Sen. Stephen Payne at Frank Powell Park. (Source photo by Amy Roberts)
On St. John: After standing to honor veterans and their families, the crowd in Cruz Bay listens to a speech by Sen. Steven Payne Sr. at Franklin Powell Park. (Source photo by Amy Roberts)
Harry Daniel, commander of American Legion Post No. 131, stands for a moment during St. John’s pre- Veterans Day ceremony in Cruz Bay on Sunday. (Source photo by Amy Roberts)
Harry Daniel, commander of American Legion Post No. 131, stands for a moment during St. John’s pre-Veterans Day ceremony in Cruz Bay on Sunday. (Source photo by Amy Roberts)
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
If you have a news tip to share, please call or text us at 340-228-8784.

Support local + independent journalism in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as accessible as we can. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. We know that informed communities are empowered ones. If you appreciate our reporting and want to help make our future more secure, please consider donating.

1 COMMENT

  1. Continuing to celebrate and glorify war won’t get us out of war anytime soon. We also will never get out as long as folks continue to volunteer to service in America’s corrupt and bogus wars. How much truth about America’s wars needs to be revealed before we quit volunteering to keep them going? America’s wars are about nothing more than feeding the Americans’ addiction to all things, so as long as we stay at war, addiction will continue to take over our world. War will never stop until we stop it ourselves. War cannot continue without us willing to strap on weapons and kill. It can’t, so we need to stop volunteering to continue the genocide and madness. Our children deserve a better world and a better way, so we need to start showing them something better instead of the same ole, same ole which got us where we are today – total chaos and addiction to all things!