Veterans honored at annual parade
By PAMELA GRANT
Cove Leader-Press
Patriotic music and group after group of people showed off their love of America and support for our veterans with Copperas Cove’s annual Veterans Day Parade.
The annual parade made its way through the city, starting at 10 a.m. at the VFW and ending in the Cove Terrace Shopping Center. AVID started the parade off by handing out American flags to watchers to wave at participants as they passed by. Several participants tossed candy to the eager children as they watched. Some groups, such as the S.C.Lee Cheerleaders even stopped at certain points to give mini performances.
All throughout the parade’s route, people lined the streets eager to watch the parade.
“We’ve done this parade since I was a kid. We’ve just grown up with this,” said Mandy Rodriguez. She said that she participated as a Girl Scout and later as a member of JROTC. Rodriguez brings her family down from Austin each year to watch the parade in Cove that she grew up watching and participating in. Rodriguez attended the event with her children, Trapper (4) and Charlie (6) Rodriguez. “We prefer this over the ones in the Austin area.”
Rodriguez said that they all enjoyed watching the parade. She said that her favorite float was the one by Cream Pies & Fries. Trapper said that her favorite was watching the cheerleaders. Charlie said his favorite was the motorcycles.
“This is something that we try to do every year,” said Axel Gibbs, Chapter Sgt at Arms for the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association. He said that they had 16 riders this year in addition to those who rode their float.
“We’re all veterans, so we want to show support to our community and to our fellow veterans,” said Gibbs. He said that getting to ride in the Veterans Day parade feels a lot like a coming home ceremony.
Refuge Ministries, located along the parade route, opened their doors allowing people inside. Outside, they served coffee and other refreshments, and they brought out several comfy chairs to give parade watchers a more comfortable way to watch the parade.
“I think it’s important, especially today, to remind the next generation that there are people who laid their lives down so that we can protect American exceptionalism and freedoms,” said Jeff Tuiasosopo, Pastor for Refuge Ministries. Tuiasosopo served for 14 years in the Army. During that time, he was deployed during Desert Storm and served in Somalia and Kosova. “We need to remember.”
Tuiasosopo called America a lighthouse to the world and said that, while it breaks his heart to see Americans burning the American flag, he said that that’s what all branches of the military served and laid down their lives for—to protect our country’s freedom.
“We’re the only country that allows that. We’re the only country that truly emphasizes and protects those freedoms—freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of religion, the expression of our faith. Other countries—I’ve been there—don’t allow that, and we need to celebrate it every opportunity that we can…I’m proud to be an American.”