Manatee’s Veterans Day parade was hidden, once again

This is an open letter to the leadership of Manatee County and all local veterans groups.

I attended the Veterans Day parade 2017. To the groups that marched in the parade, thank you for your time and service.

To the county and veterans groups, you have again managed to put this celebration on the back streets of Manatee County. You close the main roads in Bradenton and Palmetto for the MLK and Desoto parades, and yet you hide the veterans who have given so much for this country. In case no one knows, Sarasota closed their Main Street and had jets do a fly over during the parade.

There are so many military facilities to reach out to and ask for support with this celebration, put on some displays for families to enjoy, also put out a nice ad in the paper to let people know all about this great celebration of veterans.

To the veterans groups, get together with the mayors and counsels of both city and county, and make this celebration great. Don't hide all the heroes who proudly live and work in Manatee County.

This story was originally published November 24, 2017 at 12:31 PM with the headline "Manatee’s Veterans Day parade was hidden, once again."