VVA Chapter 1069 participated in the El Campo Christmas parade, held on Thursday, December 5th, 2019. This was the 3rd time that our chapter participated in the Christmas parade. Thursday was a pleasant overcast day in El Campo, with temperatures in the 70s. All of which resulted in thousands of parade well-wishers lining the entire parade route.
Above photo shows members of VVA chapter 1069 that participated in this years parade. Behind them is the parade "float" that they rode on during the parade.
The "float" is actually a Vietnam War era, military, 5-ton, 6x6 Wrecker - a beast for sure...
...Along with a same-vintage military trailer. The "float" is owned by Joe Freeman of El Campo, he himself a Vietnam veteran. VVA Chapter 1069 wants to thank Joe for participating in this year's El Campo Christmas parade, and inviting members of VVA Chapter 1069 to ride with him in the parade.
Above photo shows two members of VVA Chapter 1069 volunteering to ride their custom 3-wheeled motorcycles and provide the escort for the parade float.
Their escort also includede the required Veterans flag display on the back of their motorcycles.
The flag display included the U.S. flag, Texas flag, POW/MIA flag and the VVA organization flag.
The VVA members spent two nights preparing the float for the parade, installing Christmas lights and hanging the banners. VVA Chapter 1069 also wants to thank Joe Freeman for providing the special VVA & Vietnam Veterans banners, as you see in the above photo.
Above photo shows us headed off to get in the parade starting line, along with our motorcycle escort.
Above photo shows VVA Chapter 1069 President, Frank Laitkep, taking charge and volunteering to sit in the Wrecker Crane operator's cockpit - a dangerous mission indeed - Way to go Frank!
Above photo shows the float in the parade, with Christmas lights shining and all Veterans aboard.
Yep, that trailer is full of Vietnam Veterans! WELCOME HOME!
Much thanks to Carolyn Milder for taking the night-time photos of us in the parade!
And again, VVA Chapter 1069 would like to thank Joe Freeman of El Campo for being a big supporter of Vietnam Veterans and especially a big supporter of VVA Chapter 1069. We thank him for allowing us to participate with him in this year's El Campo 2019 Christmas parade. All of us had a fun time preparing for the parade, participating in the parade and the wonderful after-parade celebration.
Note that our chapter has participated in two other El Campo Christmas parades. Use the two links below to read the reports and view the pictures for those events.
CLICK HERE to View the 2014 Parade pictures CLICK HERE to View the 2013 Parade pictures