TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Veterans’ Day is the day to honor all veterans, living and dead. At the Veterans Day parade downtown, Tucsonans turned out to say, “Thanks.”
For participants and spectators, the Veterans Day parade is pride on display, but gratitude too.
Miguel Gonzalez said, “Veterans and military personnel are out there, putting their lives on the line and we enjoy our freedoms because they’re out there doing that for us.”
KGUN reporter Craig Smith asked: “And one of those people putting their lives on the line was you?
Gonzalez: “Yes Sir.”
Smith: “Tell me about that.”
Gonzalez: “I was in the US Marine Corps from 1999 to 2003.”
Westin Loreto says his family history helps him appreciate what people willing to fight for our country preserve for us all.
“My dad was a combat medic in the Army. I had uncles, I had numerous uncles, some great grampas and all kinds of family.”
In a very real way, when part of the family serves in the military, the rest of the family serves in its own way. Cathy Wagner learned that, moving from one base to another with a dad in the Air Force.
“Well, it's a sacrifice, you know, for the family as well. We lose time when they're deployed or they're off on assignment, and complications to be in at family events, things like that. But, you know, it's part of what the military families do. And so they're all in it together.”
And family members say even if they never signed up to fight for our country, they absorbed a sense of service that led them to find ways to serve the public in civilian life.
----
STAY IN TOUCH WITH US ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
- Download our free app for Roku, FireTV, AppleTV, Alexa, and mobile devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Youtube
