Metro Detroit celebrates one of nation's oldest Memorial Day parades in Dearborn
At Dearborn's Memorial Day parade, thousands of metro Detroit residents honored armed forces personnel who died while serving their country, and remembered the schoolchildren and teachers killed last week in a Texas shooting.
On a Monday that the parade announcer called "perfect," vintage bombers flew overhead, middle and high school bands marched, dignitaries waved from Fords and a band of young men and women enlisted in the Army, taking their oath together.
"The country may be divided on different issues," said Andrew Conway, 38, who watched the parade with his wife and their four young sons. "But the great thing about today is people can come together to honor those who served their country and we're united in that."
The Conways — Andrew, Anisah, and Noah, Nate, Nehemiah and Nyles — sat just off the curb on Michigan Avenue near the Henry Ford Centennial Library, waving small American flags.
"We've been talking a lot about our country, learning its history, but also appreciating the freedoms we have," added Anisah Conway, 34, who homeschools her boys. "Freedom is not free, and one of the things we want to instill in our kids is the importance of those who sacrificed."
Memorial Day in many cities and suburbs across America marks the unofficial start of summer, when school has let out — or is winding down — and community pools are opening up.
It's a time for barbecues and trips to the beach.
But to those who gathered for the 10 a.m. parade, it meant more.
Read more:
Vets fought 10 miles apart in 'Forgotten War,' met in Troy 60 years later
Kody Clemens joins Tigers for MLB debut: 'He's performed his way here'
Dearborn native Gen. Joseph Martin led this year's parade with his wife, Leann, in — what else — a blue Mustang.
A four-star general, Martin is the U.S. Army vice chief of staff. He graduated from Dearborn High in 1981 and from the U.S. States Military Academy in 1986. Martin had been grand marshal before.
But this year — after a pandemic had shut down so many events, including two years of Memorial Day parades, and killed more than a million Americans — the holiday was as sobering as it was festive.
The parade also followed the second-deadliest shooting on record at a U.S. grade school and sent not just Texans, but a whole nation, into mourning.
The shooting — carried out by a lone teen who legally purchased weapons after his 18th birthday, authorities said — has reignited a lively debate about guns, who should own them and the meaning of freedom.
Living in scary times
For many, the parade was a chance for the community to gather again, to feel patriotic and to honor the dead.
"We come every year," said Jennifer Cook, 55, of Dearborn.
She and her friends — Sue Garcia, 62, of Taylor; Barbara Danley, 82, and Donald Pace, 62, also both from Taylor — said they loved the pageantry of the parade. It was, Garcia said, a way to celebrate America, and honor the fallen.
Four generations of the Elyas and Shepard families went to see the parade. It also, they said, was a day to celebrate the enlistment of 28-year-old Brian Elyas Jr., who, his proud father said, "always wanted to go into the service."
The recruit's father, Brian Elyas, 57, and mother, Mary, who was wearing an Army mom T-shirt, work for Hazel Park schools. It's a scary time, they said. Of course they worry about their son, they added, but they also have faith the he will be OK.
Earlier this year, Dearborn said the parade — which, at 96, is almost a century old — would return after a two-year pandemic hiatus. According to the city, it is one of America's oldest and largest Memorial Day parades.
Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said it hadn't been easy to postpone such a tradition, and he was glad it was back.
Martin said he was honored to return to his hometown and to recognize the city’s veterans for their service and sacrifice. The city, he added, gave him a sense of community and patriotism.
Martin honored the dead, but also encouraged the combat veterans in the audience to do more than observe Memorial Day by continuing to chase their dreams, supporting other veterans and telling their stories to the next generation.
"Enjoy the country that you made sacrifices to secure, and do the things that those who fell in combat will never have the chance to do," he said. "You matter. You matter today. You served on the greatest team in the world, the U.S. armed forces.
The general — who also told the new Army recruits, "I'm you, four decades from now, maybe" — administered their oath.
And then he had each of them line up to give them a hearty high-five.
Remembering the fallen
Originally known as Decoration Day, the federal holiday was observed on May 30 from 1868 to 1970, but is now recognized the last Monday of May.
In 1868, Gen. John Logan called for a "Decoration Day" to honor those who died "in defense of their country during the late rebellion." To honor the Civil War dead. mourners decorated their graves with flowers.
Within a few years, most northern states had adopted it.
The day became a national remembrance after the two World Wars.
In addition to parades, many still visit cemeteries and memorials to honor and mourn those who died in war. In addition to flowers and wreaths, some now place small American flags.
Just before Monday's parade, there was a silent funeral procession, a tradition aimed at remembering veterans who died without money for a burial or who could not be identified.
The remains of Master Sgt. Enrique Castro Jr., who was born in 1950 and died in 2016, were cremated, but never interred.
After the procession, the Dearborn Allied War Veterans Council and the Missing in America Project arranged for the cremains to be taken to Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, where they finally will be laid to rest.
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dearborn Memorial Day Parade, one of nation's oldest, returns
