The Midwest City community and others in the Eastern Oklahoma County area are making final preparations for Veterans Day on Monday, Nov. 11.
The City of Midwest City and the Midwest City Chamber of Commerce are once again co-sponsoring the Veterans Day Parade, entitled Where Patriotism Lives.
Rita Aragon, Maj. Gen. (Ret.), Secretary of Military and Veterans Affairs, will serve as the parade's grand marshal.
KOCO 5 anchors Paul Folger, Jessica Schambach and Chief Meteorologist Damon Lane will be the Masters of Ceremony for the event.
Last year's parade featured nearly 80 entrees representing civic and veteran's organizations, local businesses, marching bands and units from Tinker Air Force Base.
This year's event will begin at 10 a.m. and will commence at S.E. 15th Street and Century Blvd, travel east to Douglas Blvd, north to Reno Ave and west to Morris McGee Drive, located in the Joe B. Barnes Regional Park.
The parade will once again include the Naval Reserve seven story Stars and Strips Flag, which measures 50 ft. x 76 ft. and weighs 110 lbs. Over 100 flag team volunteers are represented by the FNB Community Bank, Advantage Bank and Tinker Federal Credit Union.
Other entries include units from Tinker Air Force Base, Mid-Del Schools, veteran’s organizations, honor guards, round-up clubs, local businesses and non-profits, Midwest City Fire and Police Departments, civic clubs, Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Department, Oklahoma County Commissioner Willa Johnson,
Midwest City neighborhood associations, local garden clubs, car clubs and much more.
A special feature will include a fly-over from the Warbirds, a World War II vintage air craft group from Tulsa. The fly-over will take place over Douglas Blvd. and the John Conrad Golf Course area at approximately 10:20 a.m.
The group will be flying the T-6 Texan aircraft, which is a single-engine advanced trainer aircraft that was used to train pilots of the U.S. Army Air Forces, U.S. Navy, Royal Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II and into the 1950s. It remains a popular Warbird aircraft used for airshow demonstrations and static displays. It has also been used many times to simulate the Japanese Mitsubishi Zero in movies depicting WWII in the Pacific.
Participating in the Veterans Day Parade fly-over will be Retired Col. Paul "Smack" Mackey, Oklahoma Air National Guard, and flying lead. Flying in the right wing position will be Retired Navy Commander Steve "The Quack" Campbell, who served 15 years in the US Navy. Campbell served active duty during the Vietnam War. He is an OU and OU Medical School graduate and is currently a Physician in Tulsa.
Flying in the left wing position will be Retired Major Fred "Reef" Ruefer, US Air Force. Ruefer served active duty during the Vietnam War. He is currently a Physician in Muskogee.
Flying in the slot position will be Retired Major Mike "Honyocker" Hahn, US Air Force Reserve. Hahn has 20 years of military service as a fighter pilot, while stationed at Tinker Air Force Base. He also served combat deployment to Bosnia. Hahn is currently a pilot for Southwest Airlines.
"We are looking forward to another great Veterans Day Parade this year," Midwest City Mayor Jack Fry said. "Ever since last year’s parade, citizens have talked about how special it was for our community to honor our veterans and those military men and women who are currently serving at Tinker Air Force Base," Fry said. "We invite all Midwest City residents to come out to a wonderful event on Monday as we honor our veterans."
Find more Veterans Day coverage on our website and in next week’s newspaper.
