COLUMBUS, Ohio – Columbus honors its veterans today with a ceremony at City Hall and a downtown parade.
Monday is the official Veterans Day holiday, meaning government offices will be closed, but the parade will be held today.
A ceremony in City Council chambers at City Hall begins at 10:30 a.m. and features keynote speaker Warren Motts, Director of Motts Military Museum.
The 17th Annual Columbus Veterans Day Parade steps off from Nationwide Plaza and N. High Street at noon. It honors the Korean War Vets and serves as a welcoming celebration for the 37th Brigade Combat Team, the largest combat unit in the Ohio Army National Guard, which returned from deployment in Afghanistan late last year.
The Lima Company Marines will collect Toys for Tots along the parade route. The Marine Corps Reserve unit gained notoriety when it suffered a high rate of casualties in action in Iraq in 2005.
The Columbus Veterans Day Parade, sponsored by the Military/Veterans Educational Foundation, is nationally recognized as one of the nation’s biggest parades by the Department of Defense, city officials say.
The parade will form on Nationwide Boulevard at Neil Avenue at 10:00 a.m. It starts at noon and proceeds east on Nationwide Boulevard, south on High Street, and then west on W. Broad Street to Veterans Memorial.
Motorists are advised to expect rolling street closures along the parade route through noon.