LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Music, marching and military trucks filled the streets to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, as the Kentucky Veterans Parade stepped off in downtown Louisville Saturday, Nov. 9 for its 14th year.
“Proud to do it," said Harry Edmund Greaves, a World War II veteran. "It's a great, great honor."
Five days after Edmund Greaves graduated from Male High School in Louisville, he was off to book camp. Three months later, at just 17, he was writing for a navy publication during World War II.
“I loved it," he said. "I'd love to do it again, love to do it again."
Now, the World War II veteran is nearly 97 years old and rode in a Jeep in Saturday's parade, his first time participating.
“Three of my cousins — one killed in the Pacific and two killed over Normandy and Utah Beach and the other one killed at Tarawa in the Pacific — just doing it for them,” Edmund Greaves said.
The U.S. Census Bureau said there are nearly 16 million veterans in the country. The 70-unit parade honored them and those who are not alive today.
“It's only 3% of the population of the United States that have taken that step forward and put their lives on the line to protect people that they don't even know," said Wayne Hettinger, parade producer. "So it's just a good reason to take one day and honor their service."
Out of the hundreds of spectators, one made Edmund Greaves’ day extra special: his grandson, an active army lieutenant.
“He's on duty today, and he got permission to leave to come down and see his granddad," Edmund Greaves said. "That kind of got to me."
Veterans will be honored Monday, Nov. 11, at the St. Louis Cemetery in Louisville, where approximately 500 are buried. Lexington's World War I monument will also be rededicated at 10 a.m., occurring on the 100th anniversary of its original dedication.