On July 22, the 33rd annual Vandalia-Butler Chamber of Commerce Air Show Parade will be spotlighting veterans and the upcoming Operation Welcome Home celebration, slated to take place in the Miami Valley on Nov. 10-13 of this year.
To underscore this year’s veteran emphasis, parade officials selected Tipp Citian Mike Jackson, Lt Col, USAF (Ret), as the 2011 Air Show Parade Grand Marshall. Jackson, a retired Air Force pilot who flew 210 combat missions during the Vietnam war, is founder of the American Veterans Institute and National Chairman of Operation Welcome Home.
“When I contacted Mike and asked him to serve as Grand Marshall, he was hesitant,” said Vandalia Chamber Director Will Roberts, also a Tipp City resident. “He wanted to make sure the focus was on ALL veterans, not him specifically. I reassured him that we would recognize the service of all veterans and the importance of Operation Welcome Home, and we settled on naming him Grand Marshall but having a contingent of veterans march with him. I think the air show parade offers a great tie-in to the November celebration, which, naturally, spotlights Wright Patt and the Air Force, as well as all other branches of the service.”
Jackson oversaw the first Operation Welcome Home for America’s Vietnam veterans, which was held on Veterans Day weekend 2005 in Las Vegas. Since then, Jackson and his co-chairman, Tara Dixon Engel, have organized or assisted with two additional national celebrations and 50 or 60 local and regional ones. In February, the duo was asked by AAA Miami Valley to help implement an OWH celebration in the greater Dayton area. More information on the event and local fundraisers to support it can be found at www.VietnamWelcomeHome.com.
More immediately, Jackson says, he is looking for veterans to participate in the air show parade. “I’d love to have some of the Vietnam guys with me,” he said, “but we also want to recognize everyone who served. If we can get 15 or 20 veterans, either in a vehicle or on foot, that would be great! This is about them, not me.”
To participate in the parade, e-mail the American Veterans Institute (AVI) and Operation Welcome Home at info@AmericanVeteransInstitute.org or call 937-367-1926.
The parade kicks off on Friday, July 22, at 7 p.m. Veterans who want to march with Jackson, will be asked to arrive between 5:45 and 6 p.m. at the Delphi parking lot off Engle Rd where they will be directed on where to catch the shuttle bus. The shuttle will take them to St. Christopher’s Catholic Church in Vandalia where they will assemble for the parade. If a group of veterans wants to ride in a car in the parade, versus marching, they must secure a mirror hanger, which authorizes their vehicle to be in the parade. Participants must contact AVI so their names and vehicle descriptions can be submitted to parade officials and a mirror hanger can be issued.
The parade will begin at St. Christopher’s at James Bohanan and National Rd, and will travel West on National Rd to Dixie Dr and turn North on Dixie Dr and end at the Inverness Road. Staging for the parade will begin at 4 p.m. Only parade participants and parade vehicles with the proper authorization will be able to access James Bohanan Dr beginning at 5 p.m. Friday evening, Will Roberts said, telling folks to “keep an eye on the sky as the TORA, TORA, TORA flight team opens the parade with a fly-over at 6:50 p.m.”
