Friday’s Veterans Day will also be a day when the pasta days of lazy, humid conditions change to windy and cold, introducing a week of winter chill. And while parades and events like Saturday’s Folds of Honor at AT&T Stadium will take place honoring those who served in the military, the conditions only hint at what these vets in many cases endured.
From the punishing days of World War II, the extreme cold of the Korean War, the grueling challenges of Vietnam to the desert world of Afghanistan, the discomfort of 2022’s November is a walk-in-the-park.
And speaking of walking, Friday’s 2022 Greater Dallas Veterans Day Parade will kick off at 11 a.m. in front of Union Station heading to Main Street and taking a couple of sharp right turns on South Ervay and Young Street, winding up in front of City Hall. This year’s grand marshals are Tony “Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” Orlando and Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient Gen. CSM (Ret) Gary Littrell.
So, if you know a vet like recent Sons of the Flag guests Iwo Jima vet Donald Graves or Vietnam vet Paul Swartz, thank them and ask them about their time serving the country. If they decide to recall, listen. If they shake their head in silence, let it be.
If you don’t know a vet, make up for the missed opportunity, find one and give them a pat on the back. It may make 2022 Veterans Day a memory for years to come.
* Graphic courtesy of Greater Dallas Veterans Day Parade