Youth Volunteers Show their Spirit on Veterans Day!

Youth and WWII veterans march together as part of the "Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive!" section of the 92nd annual Veterans Day Parade in San Jose, CA Kelly Estes carries the photo of her great uncle, Doolittle Raider Donald Fitzmaurice, who was killed during the Raid. Kelly is carrying a copy of the book that she wrote about her uncle. She will be one of the youth leaders who will be featured in the annual Spirit of '45 Memorial Day of Service in Washington, DC that honors the fallen of WWII and all eras. Photo courtesy of the San Jose Mercury News.

Hundreds of youth volunteers took to the streets from New York City to San Diego this past weekend to raise America's Spirit and honor WWII veterans from their community by carrying their photos in Veterans Day parades.

NEW YORK CITY

This year more than 200 Boy and Girl Scouts and their family members marched up New York's 5th Avenue to the cheers of a crowd of more than 600,000 people who lined the street to see America's largest Veterans Day Parade.

Most of the Scouts came in from parts of Long Island that sustained heavy storm damage from Hurricane Sandy. Several of the Scouts were virtually homeless but still arrived raring to go and to carry the photos of WWII veterans the more than 40 blocks of the Parade route.

The outstanding turnout was organized by Valerie Pfundstein, a teacher and Troop leader who has participated in the "Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive!" entry for the past three years. Val has also represented the Girl Scouts at the special events held this year at the NY Historical Society and Times Square to promote the "Couples of WWII" project.

Her involvement in Spirit of '45, and the long history of veterans in her own family, inspired her to write a book this year to teach young children about the service and sacrifices of the "ordinary heroes" in their own communities. The book was published on Veterans Day and signed copies were distributed to the families of the youth who participated in the Parade.

Scouts lead the way in New York City

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SAN DIEGO, CA

San Diego closed out Veterans Day with a great show of Spirit on Monday, November 12 with more than 150 Scouts joining their local Honor Flight veterans in a super display of enthusiastic patriotism. This year's group was organized by Scout leader Teri Simas, who has been an active supporter of the Spirit of '45 movement in San Diego.

Teri worked closely with national events coordinator Linda Laurie who reached out to Walgreen's to invite them to produce more than 100 poster photos for the Girls to carry in the Parade. Walgreen's stores are stepping up in other parts of the country to help support Spirit of '45 events and activities, including hosting this year's special program in New York City's Times Square.

Girl Scouts keep the Spirit of '45 alive in San Diego

More than 150 San Diego Girl Scouts took to the streets with photos of their local WWII heroes, including recent participants in the San Diego Honor Flight. Walgreen's donated the poster photos to help keep the Spirit of '45 alive in "America's Finest City."

Indy Honor Flight teams up with Walgreen's to show their Spirit!

Indy Honor Flight has been an active supporter of national Spirit of '45 Day during the past year and has become a textbook example of how participation in this national initiative can help them fulfill their core mission. Indy Honor Flight Executive Director Grant Thompson (right) attended the 2012 Spirit of '45 National Leaders Conference in San Diego in February, donated funds to enable Spirit of '45 Bugler Bill Vann to attend the 150th anniversary of Taps event at Arlington in May (Bill received the coveted Silver Bugle for having traveled the furthest distance to participate in this once-in-history event), and hosted the pre-Memorial Day visit by the Spirit of '45 Express.

When Grant learned about what Walgreen's did on August 14 in Times Square to promote national awareness about the Couples of WWII project, he reached out to his local Walgreen's to invite them to help support his inaugural flight. They responded by producing poster photos for all 80 of the WWII veterans who traveled to Washington, D.C. to visit the WWII Memorial in September. Grant and his team recruited Scouts from their community to display their vets' photos during their Veteran Day ceremony in November.

Indy Honor Flight with photo posters donated by their Walgreen's during visit to WWII Memorial in September 2012.

More about the Veterans Day "Share Your Spirit" Initiative:

"Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive!" is becoming a regular feature of Veterans Day Parades throughout the country as more and more communities mobilize to honor the members of their 'greatest generation" by marching with their photos. (Above) Girl Scouts march up 5th Avenue in New York City's 2010 Veterans Day Parade.

"Keep the Spirit of ’45 Alive!" will again be highly visible this Veterans Day as hundreds of youth and adult volunteers march with photos of World War II veterans in parades across the country to honor their legacy and revive their spirit of shared values, self sacrifice, and commitment to service to country and community.

More than 100 Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Air Force Jr. ROTC represented Spirit of ’45 in the 2010 “Nation’s Veterans Day Parade” in New York City wearing bright red scarves as they marched in America’s largest Veterans Day parade in front of a float carrying our National Spokesman Jerry Coleman and a 6 ft replica of the famous Times Square Kiss.

Air Force Jr. ROTC march with WWII veterans photos in Nation's Veterans Day Parade. (Center) Boy Scout wearing his grandfather's WWII service medals. (Left, New York Spirit Kids with National Youth Coordinator Robert Corpus and photo of Actress Rhonda Fleming's husband WWII Navy veteran Darol Carlson.

Jerry was invited to be the Grand Marshal in the 2010 New York's Veterans Day Parade in recognition of his 120 missions as a Marine fighter pilot during World War II and the Korean War, for which he received two Distinguished Flying Crosses. Jerry was the only major league baseball player to see combat in both wars, sacrificing 5 years of his career to serve his country, and received a warm welcome from New Yorkers who remember him as the MVP of the 1950 World Series Champion Yankees.

Jerry Coleman and WWII veterans on "Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive!" float, presenting Spirit of '45 Day pin to NBC's Chuck Scarborough. (Right) rear view of float moving up 5th Avenue.

This year, approximately 20,000 people will march in the NYC Parade which attracts over 500,000 spectators who line the 30-block route up 5th Avenue, and was will be televised by Fox live in the New York Metro area.

The 2011 Spirit of ’45 entry in the NYC Parade included surviving members of the famous Navajo Code Talkers, the legendary Tuskegee Airmen, and other WWII heritage groups. Nell Calloway, grand daughter of Gen. Claire Chenault who led the Flying Tigers in the first response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, will lead the Spirit of ’45 group, accompanied by a 6 ft replica of Seward Johnson’s famous sculpture depicting the “kiss seen round the world.”

Nell Calloway, Robert Corpus and Kate Tafkovian with 6 ft version of the 25 ft Seward Johnson sculpture inspired by the "Times Square Kiss" of August 14, 1945 which is part of the "Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive!" entry in the NYC Veterans Day Parade each year. (Middle) Valerie Pfundstein with Girl Scouts who lead the youth marchers, and National Supervisor Warren Hegg. American Legion Past National Commander Fang Wong and Members of Lt. B.R. Kimlau Post in New York City's Chinatown, pose with "Kiss" statue.


Youth thank National Sponsoring Partner Vitas Innovative Hospice in San Diego Veterans Day Parade for its continuing support for "Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive!"	Boy and Girl Scouts march in front of HP Pavilion during San Jose's Veterans Day Parade

The idea of having youth carry poster size photos of WWII veterans from their local community in parades and patriotic events originated in Silicon Valley as part of the Stories of Service project. The Spirit of ’45 entry in Silicon Valley is organized each year by Debbie Porras who has been actively involved in Scouting for many years.

With the success of this year’ effort, we will be encouraging others to join us next year to help mobilize thousands of youth to march with images of their community’s WWII veterans in their local Veterans Day Parades next year as we set yet another new national tradition to honor service and keep the Spirit of ’45 alive throughout America!

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