Mount Pleasant parade remembers veterans on Memorial Day
Even 90-degree temperatures did not stop Mount Pleasant residents from celebrating their appreciation for American war veterans.
Veterans of Foreign Wars Michigan post 3033 hosted its annual Memorial Day parade Monday. Hundreds of people lined surrounding streets to pay tribute to the service members from the past to the present.
"If it wasn't for the veterans, we wouldn't have the freedoms that we have and we wouldn't have the country that we have," said VFW member John Goffnett.
Goffnett is a member of the VFW post’s Canteen Committee and marched in the parade carrying the American flag.
The parade also featured representatives from both Bounty 110 and the American Legion, and was accompanied by the Mount Pleasant High School Marching Band.
The parade started at 10 a.m. at the corner of Broadway Street and Kinney Avenue. The parade addressed its congregation at the intersection’s World War I and II memorials before marching downtown to deliver a speech at the corner of Main and Broadway Streets.
At the intersection, the paraders put a small U.S. flag on each of several white crosses in front of the Korean War veterans’ memorial at the intersection.
Goffnett said he was taken aback by much of the crowd’s reaction to the marching bands’ rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.
“When they played the national anthem, (I was surprised by) the number of people that didn’t take their hat off,” he said. “It amazes me the number of people that don’t know or just don’t take their headgear off.”
After the speech, the parade and its followers marched to Island Park, 331 N. Main St. where another small ceremony took place at memorials representing wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Goffnett said at that point, the parade and its congregation also placed a wreath into the water to honor Navy veterans who went down with their ships.
The parade and its congregation also stopped at the Catholic cemetery on Fancher Street to perform a ceremony before concluding with a final ceremony at the memorial gardens north of town.
After the parade, the post hosted a lunch at its headquarters, 4841 E. Pickard St.
Wisconsin resident Bonnie Coonen made a trip to Mount Pleasant for Memorial Day to see her children and grandchildren, and attended the parade while in town. Coonen’s husband died in the service.
“Memorial Day is meant to honor those who have served our country,” she said. “My husband was in the Navy for 30 years, and now I have a grandson who is in basic training, and I have a good friend who was killed in Iraq.”
Goffnett said the parade attendance was lower than he would have liked, but he thought the turnout was decent overall.
“Almost everybody has someone in their family that has served in the service,” he said. “I think we need to honor them, especially the ones that didn’t return from war.”
Staff reporter Orrin Shawl contributed to this report.
