(NewsNation) — An estimated 20,000 marchers took part in New York City’s Veterans Day Parade on Monday, making it the country’s largest.
All six branches of the military were represented as the procession made its way down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
“My heart is full,” one paradegoer told NewsNation. “They’re here to protect and serve us, and they’ve done that for decades. I have aunts and uncles, my father served — it’s generational in my family, so I’m very proud and honored and grateful.”
This year’s grand marshal was Dakota Meyer of the Marines Corps. Meyer, the Department of Defense writes, was given the Medal of Honor after spending hours traversing an active combat zone to rescue dozens of trapped men as well as recover the bodies of four U.S. service members in Afghanistan.
NewsNation local affiliate WPIX reports that Meyer has partnered with the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation to establish the “If You Can, You Must Scholarship” for children of Marines.
What to know about Veterans Day
Veterans Day is observed every year Nov. 11. On that date in 1918, World War I ended, and the next year, the U.S. marked its first Armistice Day. Then, in 1938, Nov. 11 was made an official federal holiday.
Congress changed the name to Veterans Day in 1954 when it was reevaluated after World War II.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that there are 15.8 million U.S. military veterans, or 6.1% of the total civilian adult population.
Of those veterans, 0.6% served during World War II, 3.5% did so during the Korean War, 33.0% during the Vietnam War, 24.8% during the Persian Gulf War and 28.0% during the post-9/11 period.
Other events Monday included President Joe Biden participating in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and abolitionist Harriet Tubman being posthumously awarded the rank of general during a ceremony in Maryland’s Dorchester County.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
