{"id":15662,"date":"2025-11-11T20:07:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T03:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/veterans-day-parade-draws-strong-turnout-from-community-and-youths\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:49:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:49:37","slug":"veterans-day-parade-draws-strong-turnout-from-community-and-youths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/veterans-day-parade-draws-strong-turnout-from-community-and-youths\/","title":{"rendered":"Veterans Day parade draws strong turnout from community and youths"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cadets
Cadets of the Civil Air Patrol carry service flags as they march down Montezuma Avenue during Cortez\u2019s annual Veterans Day parade Tuesday. (Matthew Tangeman\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

A slow rumble began, pulling heads toward the sky just before 1 p.m. Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The overhead planes swept past Montezuma Avenue and briefly reappeared in a missing-man formation to open Cortez\u2019s Veterans Day parade.<\/p>\n

People lined the streets Tuesday afternoon as veterans, students, members of law enforcement and community groups stepped out for the city\u2019s long-standing event \u2013 a parade held for more than 20 years.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Veterans Day procession, organized and sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 75 Ute Mountain Post, began with a traditional flyover from Pagosa Springs pilots.<\/p>\n

\"Aircrafts
Aircrafts from Pagosa Springs perform a Veterans Day flyover above Cortez to open Tuesday\u2019s parade. (Matthew Tangeman\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The parade route traveled east along Montezuma Avenue to Harrison Street and finished at the American Legion Hall, where a 2 p.m. lunch awaited veterans and their families.<\/p>\n

Children gathered along the route, waving more than 100 small American flags and calling out cheers and thanks. Veterans exchanged salutes.<\/p>\n

Organizer Doug Biehler said the day\u2019s meaning is simple. \u201cIt\u2019s just Veterans Day,\u201d he said. \u201cWe do it to honor the veterans, but a lot of the veterans are participating, so we\u2019re celebrating our service to our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The Veterans Day parade makes its way toward the American Legion Hall in Cortez on Tuesday. (Matthew Tangeman\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"On
On Tuesday, families and children line Montezuma Avenue to wave flags and hold signs thanking veterans during the Cortez\u2019s Veterans Day parade. (Matthew Tangeman\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Riding at the front of the procession, John Davis, quartermaster for Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5231 in Cortez and a Vietnam veteran, said the day stands distinct from other military holidays in the U.S., such as Memorial Day or Armed Forces Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cVeterans Day is a celebration of all veterans, living, past, future, all that stuff,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a celebration rather than a somber moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said what comes to mind each year is how patriotic Montezuma County is.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re happy to see us. They\u2019re happy to congratulate us, and we\u2019re happy to do this for the community to return that favor,\u201d Davis said. \u201cWe, the veterans, are basically your neighbors, your co-workers, your church members. That\u2019s who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two groups stand out most to Davis: young children and older veterans who still make it to the parade.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids light up, especially when you\u2019re able to give them a little flag,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Davis added: \u201cThe older veterans that are sitting, too aged I guess you\u2019d say to be able to stand through this whole thing. But you could tell they\u2019ll render salutes. It\u2019s a good day. It\u2019s a good day for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local participation remains steady each year. Participants, among others, included the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Montezuma-Cortez High School and Cortez Middle School marching bands, Battle Rock Charter School, the Escalante Shrine Club, and a string of classic cars that wrapped up the procession.<\/p>\n

Police agencies in attendance included the Cortez Police Department, Fire Protection District and Colorado State Patrol.<\/p>\n

Longtime organizer Mike Brunk, who served two tours in Vietnam, couldn\u2019t attend because, as he said, \u201cmy hip wasn\u2019t going to let me walk.\u201d He turned the event over to Biehler after realizing he wouldn\u2019t make it to town Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\"Vintage
Vintage cars roll through Cortez as spectators wave flags during the Veterans Day parade Tuesday. (Matthew Tangeman\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Members
Members of the Montezuma County VFW Auxiliary Post 5231 march on Montezuma Avenue during the Veterans Day Parade. (Matthew Tangeman\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Brunk has helped run the parade for years and said it stretches far back with previous organizers, such as John Shriner, who he said led 17 or 18 parades, and Rick Torres, who also organized it for many years before Brunk.<\/p>\n

Brunk said organizers emphasize safety each year. \u201cYou don\u2019t throw candy, you walk over to the curb and hand the candy to the kids,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Parents and families filled the streets, including local resident Sequoia Whiteskunk, who comes every year but attended especially this year to watch her sixth-grade son march and play percussion.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy son is participating in the band,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m here to support him but also to honor those veterans as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporting veterans, she said, is about \u201cjust showing up and doing anything that we can to help out, whether it\u2019s donating, listening or giving them a place to be safe or express their feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n

The parade also drew teens involved in service organizations, including 15-year-old Sammy Morey, who marched with the Civil Air Patrol.<\/p>\n

\u201cVeterans Day to me means celebrating people that have served our country and have supported us in general and just giving a helping hand to people who have given so much to our community,\u201d Morey said.<\/p>\n

He said seeing the community show up every year is meaningful, because the parade commemorates \u201cthe sacrifices they made for our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Civil Air Patrol cadet program focuses on teaching youth about leadership. The program hosts search-and-rescue missions and other hands-on activities in aerospace, fitness and character-building exercises.<\/p>\n

Even from home, Brunk said the parade carries a feeling that sticks with him. \u201cI won\u2019t say it was my pleasure, but it was definitely my privilege to serve over there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

the street as bands play and service members in trucks rolled past<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-15662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15662"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19776,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15662\/revisions\/19776"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15662"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=15662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}