Armed Forces 2015 Festival Guide
THE 67TH ANNUAL ARMED FORCES DAY PARADE STARTS AT 10 A.M. SATURDAY, MAY 16
Armed Forces Day Parade full of tradition By LESLIE KELLY
lkelly@soundpublishing.com
W
elcome to the 2015 Armed Forces Day Festivities. Bremerton celebrates its 67th annual Armed Forces Day on May 16 with a parade, pancake breakfast, barbecue luncheon and a host of festive activities honoring our veterans, active duty personnel and reservists. According to local officials, this event is the longest-running Armed Forces Day parade in the U.S. and is officially recognized by the Department of Defense. This year’s parade Grand Marshal is Vice Adm. Charles W. Ray, Pacific Area Commander, Defense Force West, U.S. Coast Guard. Ray assumed the duties of Commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area in April 2014, where he serves as the operational commander for all U.S. Coast Guard missions within half of the world that ranges from the Rocky Mountains USCG to the waters Charles W. Ray off the East Coast of Africa. He concurrently serves as Commander, Defense Force West, and provides Coast Guard mission support to the Department of Defense and combatant commanders. Vice Adm. Ray’s previous assignments include Commander, Fourteenth Coast Guard District, service with U.S. Forces Iraq as director of the Iraq Training and Advisory Mission for the Ministry of Interior, and as the military adviser to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. He is from Newport, Arkansas, and is a 1981 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy. After an assignment as a deck watch officer aboard USCGC Acushnet (WMEC-167), he was selected for Naval Flight Training and earned his wings in
1983. He earned a master’s degree in industrial administration from Purdue University and a master’s degree in national resource strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C. Ray’s personal awards include five Legion of Merit Medals, one Bronze Star Medal, two Meritorious Service Medals, one Coast Guard Air Medal, three Coast Guard Commendation Medals and the Coast Guard Achievement Medal. He is expected to be in one of the first vehicles in the parade. The annual parade is sponsored and planned by the Bremerton Chamber of Commerce and the Bremerton Central Lions Club. Bremerton Chamber Executive Director Gena Wales said she anticipates 120 entries in this year’s parade, some coming from out of state to participate. Included will be representatives of all branches of the military, police and firefighters, pageant queens, commercial businesses, car clubs and more. There will be a number of high school, junior high and middle school bands as well. Bremerton started the parade in 1948 to honor John “Bud” Hawk, a hometown hero who was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Harry Truman at the state Capitol in Olympia. Hawk died in November 2013. Hawk, who taught fifth- and sixthgrade in Bremerton beginning in 1952, started his teaching career at Tracyton Elementary. In addition to his Medal of Honor, Hawk was the recipient of four Purple Hearts and a Distinguished Conduct Medal from the United Kingdom. The first Armed Forces Day was celebrated nationally on May 20, 1950, one month before the Korean War began. The holiday was officially designated in 1949. Prior to that, each branch of the military had its own special day. The day was created by President Truman on Aug. 31, 1949. The five branches of the armed forces had just been consolidated under the Department of Defense. Bremerton’s Armed Forces Day celebration in 1950 had the slogan, “Teamed for Defense.” C.A. “Buzz” King, general chairman of the Armed Forces Day event,
A military tank drives the parade route through downtown Bremerton in the 2014 parade. City of Bremerton wrote in a typed and mimeographed report to Capt. C.O. Humphreys that there were seven speaking engagements and one parade. King estimated 14,000 people attended the parade, 800 people attended a military ball and 11,750 individuals visited the Bremerton shipyard and shops. This year, 25,000 to 30,000 people are expected to attend the parade. The 1950 Bremerton Armed Forces Day schedule of events included a public judging of baked beans and cornbread contest (won by the U.S. Naval barracks) at the shipyard cafeteria, formations of Navy aircraft from Whidbey Island flying over Bremerton, and a public military ball at the Bremerton Civic Center from 9 p.m. to midnight. While still maintaining the tradition of the parade, Bremerton has incorporated additional events, such as a golf tournament, a pancake breakfast and a free barbe-
cue for active duty, reservists and veterans. Parade attendance is two or three people deep along the entire parade route. Along the parade route, Warren Avenue will remain open to traffic. The parade will start at 11th Avenue and Park. Classic cars will assemble in the Olympic College parking lot and will then merge onto the parade route. This is the third year for the parade route through downtown Bremerton. Expected again this year will be some vendors along the sidewalks on Fifth Street, including parade souvenirs and arts and crafts. The A section of the parade will have many local military dignitaries in restored military vehicles driven by members of the West Sound Military Vehicles Collector’s Club. Classic cars and the Shriners clowns will also be in the parade. The parade is expected to last about an hour.
A SUPPLEMENT OF THE BAINBRIDGE ISLAND REVIEW, BREMERTON PATRIOT, CENTRAL KITSAP REPORTER, NORTH KITSAP HERALD, AND PORT ORCHARD INDEPENDENT