VINEMONT, Ala. – The 2022 Cullman County Veterans Day Celebration at Cullman Regional Airport, organized by the Cullman Elks Lodge, will be held Saturday, Nov. 5, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
The event is always held the Saturday before Veterans Day so that Cullman County’s 7,000 veterans can participate in the large-scale Birmingham or Huntsville Veterans Day parades.
The celebration is financed through donations from the City of Cullman, Cullman County Commission, Cullman County Community Development Commission (CCCDC) and local businesses.
Admission and parking are free. The event is for all ages and is designed to honor veterans and share the history of the sacrifices they’ve made.
Organizer Gwen Parker stated, “Cullman has over 7,000 veterans. It’s highly populated with people that have fought in various wars and been deployed, so we feel like it’s very important that we recognize those people for their contributions.”
Some highlights of the event include:
- Patriotic concert by Redstone Army Band
- WWII B-17 Bomber Flying Fortress and Vietnam UH-1 Iroquois (Huey) helicopter rides
- FREE lunch for veterans and spouses
- Military equipment displays from WWII to Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom
- P-51 Mustang/ Mustang car show
- D-Day 1944 C-47 aircraft display
- Navy dive bomber display and Battle of Midway movie
Anyone can climb aboard and look around in the vehicles on display. Tickets for the B-17 and Huey rides can be purchased at https://b17texasraiders.org/index.php.
Parker said, “Each one the aircrafts that will be there from various wars will all have a small video – short 10–15 minute movie – showing the war they were in.” Some of the veterans in attendance will be some of those who flew in the aircrafts on display.
The Commemorative Air Force (CAF) will present the B-17 Flying Fortress “Texas Raiders” with a fly-in. The Gulf Coast Wing of the CAF operates and maintains the B-17 Flying Fortress “Texas Raiders,” a Navy JRB-6 Twin Beech “Little Raider” and a Navy SNJ-5 Texan.
Skydive Alabama will perform a parachute demonstration and there will also be afternoon aircraft demonstrations.
Honorary guests will be recognized at the opening ceremony.
“We have nine veterans that we are going to be recognizing, with the oldest being 102. We are going to briefly recognize them at opening ceremonies and tell a little about the war that they were in and how they participated in that war,” Parker said.
The free lunch will feed up to 1,000 veterans and spouses. There will also be food vendors on-site.
Parker added, “It’s a family event. Bring the kids out. There’s a lot of history there that I think is important for them to see. It’s a very good learning experience for children and adults alike.”
Cullman Regional Airport is located at 231 County Road 1360, in Vinemont.
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