Jacksonville honored its more than 78,000 veterans with its annual Veteran's Day parade on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Published on November 11, 2024 at 5:08 pm
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Jacksonville celebrated its more than 78,000 veterans on Monday with it annual Veterans Day Parade through Downtown.
Parade Grand Marshal John Thrasher led the floats from military-centric organizations and a dozen local high school marching bands.
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Thrasher, a faculty member at the Florida State University College of Law, was the university’s president from 2014 to 2021 after a career representing the Jacksonville area in the Florida Legislature. Long before he entered politics and education, Thrasher served in Vietnam. He was an Army captain who was awarded two Bronze Stars. Thrasher rode in the back of a convertible down the streets as he waved and smiled at spectators.
An American flag ruffled in the wind as it hung between a pair of Jacksonville Fire Rescue trucks at the intersection of Hogan and Bay streets. Every parade participant strode beneath it as they made their way through a throng of thousands through the heart of Downtown.
As a float celebrating Vietnam veterans rolled by, a spectator mused aloud that there may not be too many more opportunities to honor and thank those who served in that conflict, because many of them are now in their 70s or older.
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A few feet away, Richard Haddon solemnly stood at the intersection of Laura and Bay street. He is 80 now and does not move as well as he once did, but Haddon wanted to salute his fellow soldiers by standing.
Haddon spent seven years in the Army. In 1965, shortly after he graduated from Ribault High School, he served a tour in Vietnam.
He says witnessing Jacksonville’s Veterans Day Parade is a way to honor the patriots who preceded him.
“I love to come see all the veterans and go back. I mean, I’m a patriotic person. It just means a lot to me to see them, especially the whole World War II veterans and Korean veterans and all. It’s just great,” he said.
Haddon’s service in Southeast Asia was celebrated earlier this year. He participated in Honor Flight, a nationwide program that invites veterans to share a day of honor at memorials in Washington D.C.
Another spectator, Rhonda Richardson, was drawn to Northeast Florida four years ago because she has family here.
Richardson served 20 years in the Marine Corps before she retired in 2020. She met her husband, Jonathan, while the two served as drill instructors at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island. Monday was Richardson’s first Jacksonville Veterans Day parade.
“I was nervous. The world is a scary place because incidents were happening at these parades (while) we were supposed to be celebrating,” Richardson says. “My family is visiting. I wanted to represent and show support.”
