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San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade draws a crowd in honor of veterans

The San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade that winds from San Fernando to Pacoima is known as the biggest Veterans Day event honoring veterans in Los Angeles County. Now in its 21st year, it drew about 20,000 onlookers lining Laurel Canyon Boulevard to “pay tribute to the men and women who serve or have served,” its organizers said.

The parade’s starting time on Monday — 11:11 a.m. — marked the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I.

This year’s grand marshal was Specialist 4 Edward Landin, U.S. Army, 1971-1973. About 2,000 vets participated from the WWII era, Korean War era, Vietnam War era, Desert Storm era and Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom era.

Parade participants during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Parade participants during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Parade participants during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

People watch the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Parade participants during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

San Fernando High School band during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

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Parade participants during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Parade participants during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

People watch the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Parade participants during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

A Marine give a boy a flag during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Parade participants during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Andrea Marquez, of Monterey Park and whose father and grandfather served in the military, attends a Veterans Day program at Pasadena City Hall with her daughter Destinee and grandchildren Luna, 4, and Sophia, 2, on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Congressman Tony Cardenas speaks during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Parade participants during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

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Parade participants during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Parade participants during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

San Fernando Police Department Chief Fabian Valdez speaks during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Jesse Lugo, 14, of Whittier, and other members of the Pasadena division, hold stuffed toys and flowers for a yellow ribbon presentation for Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Phillips III, of the 2D Battalion, 23D Marine Corps and his family during a Veterans Day program at Pasadena City Hall on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Parade participants during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Colonel Benjamin Phillips III, of the 2D Battalion, 23D Marine Corps and his family are presented with yellow ribbons during a Veterans Day program at Pasadena City Hall on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Buffalo Soldiers during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, San Fernando Police Department Chief Fabian Valdez and Los Angeles Councilmember Monica Rodriguez during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

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A U.S. Marine Corps Color Guard during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

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Parade participants during the annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Mission Hills, CA., on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

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Fred A. Flores, a Marine veteran and president/founder of the San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade, Inc.remembers, “When we inaugurated this parade, we had no idea how the community would react to a parade strictly to honor veterans and their families.”

He wanted to do something different from parades created by community groups and sports groups. “There is nothing wrong with that,” he said in a prepared statement. “However, we pay tribute to America’s heroes — the veterans and their families of our Armed Forces.”

The San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade is dedicated each year to the memory of Flores’ son, Alfred Anthony Flores, Jr., who was tragically killed on April 3, 2009.

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