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| Vietnam vets to lead Tomball Holiday Parade |
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The Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce (GTACC), which hosts the parade each year, is excited so many veterans have responded to the open call for parade marshal, Vice President of Operations Brandy Beyer said. “Among the 80-plus veterans who will be participating, we have an admiral, a POW, a Silver Star recipient, a U.S. Navy nurse and many, many others all with their own experiences,” she said. “We are very excited to have such a good response and even more excited to be honoring this group of veterans.” In addition, the U.S. Army 1st Cavalry Division Horse Detachment (pictured) based at Ft. Hood will be bringing up the rear in style. Sgt. Dewan Godfrey, a 1990 Tomball High School graduate and operations sergeant of the horse detachment, said he is looking forward to coming home for this holiday event. “It’s great to be showing off my hometown and it’s great for the people of Tomball to see this outstanding horse detachment,” he said. Moreover, 33 contestants vying for the 2011 Miss Tomball title will be in the parade with individual entries. The 2011 Miss Tomball Pageant will end the day with an elegant evening presentation in the The 45th annual Tomball Holiday Parade will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 20. The parade heralds the beginning of the holiday season in the greater Tomball area and draws a crowd of about 40,000 for the parade, lunch and shopping. For more information, visit the Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce online at TomballChamber.org, or call 281-351-7222. Comments (3)
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written by Al Treska, November 19, 2010
While the peace symbol may be a curious pick for a Vietnam vets parade float, it should be remembered that many American servicemen wore peace symbols on their uniforms while in Vietnam during the war. Perhaps there is a bit of tongue in cheek with the pick of the peace sign by the vets contingent in the parade. Those that have an issue with the peace symbol in the parade should ask the vets about it.
As a footnote of sorts to this issue, when I first returned to Vietnam in 1994 with a group of Marine Corps vets, I spotted a couple of faded peace symbols on buildings along My Khe Beach in Danang, what our guys called China Beach.
... written by swarr, November 19, 2010
The peace symbol was the banner of the movement that caused the United States military to lose its only war in history, and condemned the Vietnamese people to suffer continuing rule under a communist dictatorship. The peace symbol was also the banner under which walked those who heaped so much abuse on our returning soldiers after their honorable service. Some soldiers did violate military law by defacing their uniforms with scrawled peace symbols. These were also the ones who used drugs and disobeyed orders of their officers.
Peace, Love and the Holidays may be a good sentiments, but whoever chose them to be inscribed on a peace symbol to honor Vietnam veterans has either purposely slapped me and my fellows in arms once again or has no sense of the history of the era. It's just a symbol, but I am insulted!
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For your consideration,
Nicholas Warr
Vietnam Veteran
U. S. Marine