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Veterans Day parade: The ‘best lesson’

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The children of Warren-Walker Middle School pushed up close to the metal barricades, angling for the best view. They waved handmade signs that read, “WWMS <3’s the Marines” and “WWMS <3’s our military.”

Teacher Paul Saunders explained that instead of having a Veterans Day guest speaker at the private school Tuesday, they elected for a field trip to the downtown San Diego parade.

“We thought this would be the best lesson,” Saunders said.

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Indeed. The whole fabric of the American military experience was on display at the annual Harbor Drive parade, which attracted throngs of people to the waterfront.

There were tiny Naval Sea Cadets, whose child-sized heads were almost swallowed by their adult-sized hats as they marched along.

Venerable Pearl Harbor survivors were chauffeured in style in open-top sports cars.

And several post-9/11 veterans walked gingerly but sturdily along, balancing on prosthetic legs that replaced human ones lost to war.

Tuesday’s parade paid tribute to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, the first time that the annual event has ever focused on the post-9/11 generation.

Throngs of student veterans from San Diego State, the University of San Diego and other local colleges formed the largest group representing that era.

Some young veterans in the crowd said they appreciated the sentiment.

“It’s nice to be recognized,” said Anthony Riviera, a 28-year-old former Army cavalry scout who deployed twice to Afghanistan.

Riviera was wearing a baseball cap that said “Afghanistan Veteran,” with the campaign ribbon emblazoned on the front.

For him, Veterans Day is a bittersweet day, he said. Looking at the injured vets in the parade, he is reminded of friends similarly wounded on the battlefield.

“It’s a day to reflect,” he said.

Others saw it as a day for thanks.

Jen Carroll brought her two young daughters, 9-year-old Ellie and Finley, 4, to watch the downtown parade.

Carroll may have shouted “thank you” more than 50 times as the units marched by.

She was a friend of Encinitas resident Glen Doherty, the former Navy SEAL turned CIA security contractor who died in 2012 attempting to protect Americans diplomats under siege in Benghazi, Libya.

“That’s when we made the commitment to come down here every year to honor him,” Carroll said.

The parade was flush with Americana.

Marching bands from several San Diego County schools – Morse, Olympian, Sweetwater Union, Clairemont, Spring Valley Middle, Monte Vista, Patrick Henry, St. Augustine and Valhalla – provided a patriotic sound track.

The Marine Corps Recruit Depot band started everything off.

In the middle, the Navy Band Southwest offered a dramatic pause.

The band’s drum major stood very still, then swung his mace in a crisp arc. The music swelled up, “Anchors Aweigh.”

Behind the Navy band came a sea of dark dress uniforms and white hats.

At least a dozen Navy units marched by in tight formation -- bringing cheers from the crowd in this Navy town, the principal home of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

But the spectacle seemed to have something for everyone.

Ray Skillman is a 33-year-old Marine veteran of the Iraq war who came to the parade with his wife and children.

“It makes you feel good,” he said.

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