Virginia Beach Recognized as a National Veterans Day Regional Site

The City of Virginia Beach has received notification from Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki advising that the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Veterans Day National Committee selected the City of Virginia Beach as a designated Regional Site for the observance of Veterans Day 2009.  Virginia Beach is among 41 designated sites nationwide that serve as model community events in honor of our Nation’s Veterans.

Each year the Veterans Day National Committee reviews submissions from across the nation that represent fitting tributes to America’s heroes. This is the first year that Virginia Beach applied on behalf of The Hampton Roads Council of Veterans Organizations, which has planned and orchestrated the annual Veterans Day parade and ceremony since 1970.

Bill Muehleib, the national vice president of the local Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, Inc., and a member of the Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Service Organization sponsored Virginia Beach as a candidate for consideration as a National Veterans Day Regional Site. Mr. Muehleib stated, “As a Pearl Harbor survivor, I have always felt great pride in the efforts put forth each year by the Virginia Beach community to recognize and pay tribute to Veterans of all wars. There aren’t too many of us left to tell the stories of the men and women who fought and sacrificed their lives for the freedom of all Americans, especially those who are too young to remember.”

Priscilla Beede, event coordinator for the annual Veterans Day parade and ceremony stated, "This is quite an honor. We are so pleased and honored to have been selected and recognized nationally, for our Veterans Day observance. Hampton Roads is a military community and we are proud of our service men and women and want to ensure that future generations that follow will not ever forget the sacrifices that all veterans have made to guarantee our freedom."

The annual parade is held on November 11 and features military units from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard that represent the 12 military installations across the region. Veterans from Pearl Harbor, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm and Desert Shield participate, as well as local Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops. A formal ceremony that includes military, federal, state and local dignitaries is held following the parade that pays tribute to all veterans.