Vicksburg city landscape department workers Keith Chiles, left, and Alexis Smith, right, put fresh straw down on a flower bed Thursday at the Municipal Rose Garden on Monroe Street. The workers were preparing for the Veterans Day Ceremony in the garden at 11 a.m. Monday. (The Vicksburg Post/C. Todd Sherman)

[11/08/02]About 40 units have signed up for the parade Saturday that will begin the celebration of Veterans Day in Vicksburg.

The parade was organized by Louis Sullivan and other members of Tyner Ford Post No. 213 American Legion as part of the activities to honor those people who have served in the U.S. military and, in particular, those who served in the wars fought by the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and other military organizations.

In addition to the parade Saturday, local veterans organizations are planning a ceremony at 11 a.m. Monday, Veterans Day, at the Municipal Rose Garden on Monroe Street with Lt. Col. James Langan, deputy commander of the Vicksburg District Corps of Engineers, speaking.

During the Monday ceremony, Vicksburg attorney Lucius B. Dabney Jr. will be master of ceremonies and George Habeeb will recite “Flanders Field,” a poem honoring the men and women who died in the line of duty. The Vicksburg High School Junior ROTC will present the national colors.

In the event of rain, the Rose Garden Ceremony will be at the Senior Citizens Center at Walnut and South streets.

Sullivan said parade participants are being asked to line up on Belmont Street between 10 and 11 a.m. Saturday and to enter Belmont Street from the Drummond Street side.

The parade will begin at 11 a.m. and proceed north on Washington Street to Jackson Street where it will disband.

Veterans Day began as Armistice Day after World War I as a way to honor veterans of all wars and to show appreciation of the American people for veterans’ sacrifices. Nov. 11 was picked to be Armistice Day because it is the anniversary of the end of World War I, on Nov. 11, 1918.

Organizations participating in the activities are Tyner Ford Post No. 213 and Allein Post No. 3 American Legion; William T. Gifford Post No. 2572 and Clifford C. Curd Post No. 10734 Veterans of Foreign Wars; Disabled American Veterans Post No. 22; Military Order of the Cootie; Elks Lodge No. 95 and Fidelity Lodge No. 507.