This week I attended the 103rd San Jose Veterans Day Parade in Silicon Valley. The main parade route was Market Street from Santa Clara Street to San Carlos Street. The grandstand was at Park Avenue and Market Street. I set up my camera halfway between Park Avenue and San Carlos Street. A great sightline of the parade when it passes by. All the marchers stopped marching at San Carlos Street. Except for the five groups that stopped short of finishing the parade.
1. Bradley Fighting Vehicles
I’ve seen news reports that the parade had tanks. Bradley fighting vehicles are not tanks, they’re armored troop carriers. A tank would have been more impressive. The two troop carriers pulled over to the left lane and loaded up their marchers.
The San Jose Police Department and the San Jose Police Emerald Society marched around them. I’m surprised that the police didn’t hand out tickets for blocking traffic.
2. American Legion Auxiliary
The American Legion Auxiliary marched past the grandstand and then stopped in front of the Tech Museum. The marchers rolled-up their banners, put them inside the SUV, and marched off the parade route. These volunteers gave their minimum effort to the parade.
3. Kiwanis International
The Kiwanis International truck stopped in front of me. The marchers in front were told to stop marching and ran back to get on board. When the truck rolled by, the flatbed had rows of people sitting down and waving American flags. The truck driver must have been in a hurry to get somewhere.
4. U.S. Marines Corps JROTC
You would expect the U.S. Marines Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) to remain in parade formation. They didn’t. The moment they passed me they fell out of parade formation and ran over to admire the poop statue. San Jose had the poop emoji in 1992 before it appeared on the Internet in 2010.
5. Mission San Jose Marching Band
The Mission San Jose high school marching band gave the impression that they would play music all the way to the end. When they got to where I was, they stopped playing a song and went to marching taps. The parade watchers behind me were quite vocal that they didn’t get a song. Unlike most of the adults watching the parade, most of the kids were wearing masks.