Residents and guests lined up on the streets in downtown Toms River to celebrate and show support for veterans on Nov. 12.
On that day, the township’s annual Veterans Day Parade was held before a large gathering who assembled to honor our nation’s veterans.
The parade started at 9:45 a.m. at the Toms River Shopping Center on Route 37 and traveled south on Main Street (Route 166), then headed east to finish on Washington Street.
Mike Romaine from Beachwood said he wanted to come out to the parade to show support for the veterans.
“This is just to give them a little something for all they have given us. Seeing the community get together to support our veterans is very important and everyone should show support for veterans,” Romaine said.
He said parades honoring veterans should happen more often.
“We should always do something special for our veterans,” Romaine said.
Pete Thomas was also in attendance from Beachwood. He is a veteran himself, who served in the Marine Corps from 1987-1991.
“It is nice to see the younger generation paying tribute to all the service members and show support for the community, too,” Thomas said.
He said having the community come out to the parade helps show solidarity in the country and support for the government.
Laurie Nace from Toms River lined up to watch the parade on Washington Street.
“I appreciate all that the veterans do for us and it is just great to come out and support them,” Nace said.
She said that it is important to have the Veterans Day parades to remember what so many have sacrificed, including the families of the members of the military who have served and are currently serving.
Bob Larned, who chairs the Veterans Commission, said the parade is therapeutic for him.
“I am a Vietnam veteran. When I came back from Southeast Asia, it was so different back home. We were warned not to wear our uniforms off our base. For years there was a feeling of being unappreciated. Now it is so nice to have people come up to you and say, ‘Thank you for your service,’ whether they served or not. Hearing that takes a lot of the sting out of the feelings I had when I got back home,” Larned said.
There was a post-parade ceremony in front of Town Hall that included the placing of a wreath on the veterans monument.
“We recognize all our veterans, we owe it to them and our future veterans who will serve,” Mayor Thomas Kelaher said.