New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Organizers of New Bedford’s Veterans Day Parade today announced that one dozen veterans’ organizations and seven different bands, including the award-winning New Bedford High School and Dartmouth High School marching bands, as well as the Portuguese-American Band and the Senhor da Pedra Band, will march in the parade on Monday morning.
Officials invite all New Bedford area residents to attend the City’s 2013 Veterans Day Parade on Monday, November 11, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. The 2013 New Bedford parade is presented by the Greater New Bedford Veterans Council-New Bedford Veterans Advisory Board Veterans Day Parade Committee, and marks the first year the collaborative has organized the parade.
City Veteran’s Agent, Chris Gomes said the organizers have extended an open invitation to all area veterans to march in the New Bedford parade whether they are a post member or not. “The American Legion Post 1, the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 499 and the Freetown V.F.W. welcome all veterans to march with their organization. We would rather have these veterans join us in the parade than feel as though they must watch from the sidelines,” said Gomes. Several local classic car owners have volunteered to assist those veterans who may otherwise be unable to participate in the parade.
Parade participants will gather at the intersection of Rockdale Avenue and Union Street at approximately 10:30 a.m. and the parade will step off at 11:00 a.m. sharp.
The parade will march East on Union Street to Pleasant Street, then returning to a longstanding tradition, the parade will turn left onto Pleasant Street to the reviewing stand located in front of the New Bedford Main Library.
A Veterans’ Day service will be held at the reviewing stand at the conclusion of the parade and all participants and parade attendees are encouraged to attend the service. Seating will be reserved for elderly and disabled veterans near the reviewing stand. The keynote speaker will be WWII Veteran, Matthew Goulet. Goulet entered the United States Marine Corps in 1942. He served in the Marshall Islands and was seriously wounded in Saipan which required six months of hospitalization. After his recovery, he was sent to Iwo Jima where he was with the 3rd Battalion, L Company. Goulet was honorably discharged in August 1945.
In addition, parade organizers have announced that James Collins will serve as the Grand Marshall of the 2013 parade. Collins served in the Air Force from 1953 to 1961 as an Administrative Clerk. He was decorated with the National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, United Nation Service Medal, and the Air Force Longevity Service Award.
Collins also served as the Veterans Service Officer for the Town of Dartmouth, where he secured benefits for veterans through both state and federal programs and provided assistance to veterans and their family members. He is a longtime member of the Dartmouth Friends of Veterans, and has recently become a member of the newly formed American Legion in Dartmouth where he offers guidance on organizational procedures. Mr. Collins also serves on the Dartmouth Veterans Advisory Board and has assisted in securing funds as well as site locations for Veterans Memorials and coordination of the annual Memorial Day Parade. As an active member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #9050, Collins was instrumental in securing memberships and funding for the post and has served the organization in various capacities.
