Usually on Veterans Day, volunteers gather at Riverside National Cemetery in California to place flags next to more than 300,000 graves. But not this year.
the Longest federal government shutdown On record is the curtailment and cancellation of parades, ceremonies and other events across the United States normally held to commemorate Veterans Day. It’s another fallout from the lockdown that went wrong Flights and Food assistanceAnd military families have already felt it Who are worried About their salaries.
In California, Teach Every Hero organizers said they could not go ahead with the event on Tuesday without access to restrooms, traffic control and other needs for thousands of participants. Elsewhere, a lack of federal staff and access to military facilities has led to the cancellation of other Veterans Day events.
“We have a responsibility to provide them with the resources they need, and unfortunately due to the shutdown, we were unable to do that,” said Laura Herzog, founder and CEO of Honoring Our Fallen, which is organizing the Riverside National Cemetery event.
Many communities will still hold Veterans Day gatherings, including some of the largest and most famous events in the country such as the annual observance at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia and the Veterans Day Parade in New York.
The disruption of a federal holiday meant to honor those who served in the armed forces comes as military families face week-to-week uncertainty about their pay. The Trump administration has found ways to pay troops twice since the shutdown began on October 1.
The National Cemetery Foundation of Texas has canceled an annual Veterans Day event at the cemetery in Dallas-Fort Worth, saying organizers won’t have time to organize the ceremony even if the shutdown ends soon. In Virginia, city leaders in Hampton cited concerns about a shortage of service members to participate in the annual parade due to the shutdown.
“Our veterans deserve to be recognized with great pomp and circumstance,” Hampton City Manager Mary Bunting said in a news release. “Without our military on active duty, we are concerned that the display will appear sparse and that the recognition may fall short of the honor our veterans deserve.”
Organizers of Detroit’s annual Veterans Day Parade say they are moving forward with Sunday’s event, but it will not include a U.S. Army marching band or helicopter flyover. Others are relying on volunteer help more than usual to make up for a lack of federal resources.
The Wyoming Valley Veterans Day Parade, which has been a tradition in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, every year since 1945, will still be held on Sunday. But organizers were forced to scramble due to the closure, asking veterans to participate. Instead of military vehicles, the parade will feature groups of motorcycles and car clubs.
“We will put on a parade one way or another,” said Susan Allen, a retired Navy captain who chairs the parade committee. “We have no choice but to make lemonade out of these lemons.”
Despite the turmoil, some communities are still trying to find ways to honor veterans even as events are canceled.
And in Mississippi, the Gulf Coast Veterans Association canceled its annual show at Pass Christian. But the group said it will use funds from the event to provide Thanksgiving dinner to veterans and active duty service members instead.
“While we share the disappointment, we choose to turn this setback into a blessing,” the group said in a Facebook post.
When U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzalez learned that a Veterans Day ceremony at Fort Sam Houston Cemetery in San Antonio would not be held, the Republican congressman’s office took over organizing the annual event.
That means working with nonprofits to find someone to sing the national anthem and provide chairs for attendees, said Gonzalez, a Navy veteran whose grandfather is buried at the cemetery.
“We honor our veterans no matter what, and that’s exactly what we did,” Gonzalez said.