The Longest Armed Forces Day

The annual Armed Forces Day parade and related events marked its 75th anniversary this year. The parade itself is usually held ahead of Armed Forces Week, ensuring that thousands of students can both participate and observe the military procession before schools recess for the summer.
The parade’s Grand Marshal this year, Army Vice Chief of Staff GEN James Mingus, noted, “Chattanooga has the longest running Armed Forces Day parade in the nation,” which, in addition to being the birthplace of the Medal of Honor, is why it is widely recognized as “the most patriotic city in the nation.” Indeed, the first official parade here was held in 1949, though there were unofficial events earlier.

Back in I think it was '72 I marched in the NYC Armed Forces Day Parade as part of the McGuire AFB Honor Guard. They made us wear the Chrome Helmets with the web support inside, by he time we finished the parade it felt like that web donut in the middle had sunk about 3" into my skull. It took me several hours to get rid of that headache and the top of my head was sore for several days.