RIVERSIDE (CNS) - America's fighting men and women will be honored this weekend during separate Veterans Day parades in Riverside and Murrieta. The 13th annual ``A Salute to Veterans Parade & Expo'' will get underway at 10 a.m. Saturday in front of Riverside City College downtown.
The event will feature representatives from dozens of organizations, with veterans from each service branch taking part, led this year by U.S. Air Force Reserve Col. Matthew Burger, who commands the 452nd Air Mobility Wing at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley. According to organizers, Burger was chosen because March is celebrating its centennial this year.
Members of the American Legion, Boy Scout troops, former Green Berets, Riverside Fire Department crews, Riverside County sheriff's K9 teams, J-ROTC color guard units, pipe and drum players and Veterans of Foreign Wars members will be in the roughly 2-mile march from the college to the Riverside Historic Courthouse.
Flyovers are planned by local aviators at the controls of World War II-era warbirds, and military equipment, including armored personnel carriers, will be on display, along with dozens of classic cars, trucks and other vehicles. In Murrieta, the 16th annual ``Veterans Day Parade'' will be held Sunday, getting underway at 10 a.m. near the intersection of Ivy Street and Washington Avenue. The parade will roll through the historic downtown area, concluding about three hours later at Town Square Park, Adams Avenue and Kalmia Street.
Representatives from all service branches, marching bands, military vehicles, city and county officials, public safety personnel, vintage automobiles and other attractions will be part of the procession. A flyover by historic warbirds also is planned.
Further tributes will be paid at the park, where the Murrieta Rotary Club's 10th annual Field of Honor will open Saturday, with the unveiling of more than 2,000 3-by-5-foot American flags, bearing the names of active-duty and former members of the U.S. Armed Forces.