Flags, families and thousands of veterans lined Main Street to honor military members past and present for the 53rd Auburn Veterans Parade on Saturday.
The 2½-hour parade presented more than 200 entries and nearly 6,000 participants and included more than 25 marching bands and local Junior ROTC units, honor guards, military units and antique military vehicles. Spectators saw a procession of veteran units, drill teams, community and scouting groups, intermixed with floats, antique and classic cars and other entries of interest.
This year’s parade paid special tribute to the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), an organization congressionally chartered and exclusively dedicated to Vietnam-era veterans and their families.
Navy Band Northwest performs in the parade. RACHEL CIAMPI, Auburn Reporter
People watch as helicopter flies over Main Street at the start of the parade. RACHEL CIAMPI, Auburn Reporter
Doughboys of World War I march in the parade. RACHEL CIAMPI, Auburn Reporter
American Gold Star Mothers of Washington State display those sons and daughters who were lost in war. RACHEL CIAMPI, Auburn Reporter
American Gold Star Mothers of Washington State display those sons and daughters who were lost in war. RACHEL CIAMPI, Auburn Reporter
RACHEL CIAMPI, Auburn Reporter
Veteran Gordon Baird. RACHEL CIAMPI, Auburn Reporter
Mayor Nancy Backus and her daughter, Lucky, walk in the parade. RACHEL CIAMPI, Auburn Reporter
Veteran Dan Paulsen waves to the crowd. RACHEL CIAMPI, Auburn Reporter
RACHEL CIAMPI, Auburn Reporter
Auburn Mountainview JROTC. RACHEL CIAMPI, Auburn Reporter
RACHEL CIAMPI, Auburn Reporter
Miss Auburn Whitney Van Vleet. RACHEL CIAMPI, Auburn Reporter
Mount Rainier Scottish American Military Society Band. RACHEL CIAMPI, Auburn Reporter
RACHEL CIAMPI, Auburn Reporter
Angela Morales’ granddaughter, Alexis Morales, as a Word War ll nurse. COURTESY PHOTO
