Photo: 2008 NYC Veterans Day parade. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Getty Images)
Posted: Wednesday, 11 November 2009 5:19PM
NYC Veterans Day Parade Honors Fort Hood Victims
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The nation's biggest Veterans Day parade, with actor Tony Curtis as grand marshal, paid special tribute to those killed and wounded at Fort Hood -- and to an elite Marine unit, the Navajo Code Talkers.
``War, although it wasn't good, brought out many unsung people who have contributed to this nation,'' said 85-year-old Keith Little as his Code Talkers unit sat before him at the opening ceremony in Madison Square Park on Wednesday.
About 20,000 people moved up Fifth Avenue to cheering crowds. The marchers included 3,000 active-duty military, civic and youth groups and the crew of the new USS New York, a Navy assault ship with a bow made from World Trade Center steel.
The festivities began with a breakfast for members of the military who attended the Fort Hood memorial on Tuesday.
The Texas massacre added an additional note of sadness to the occasion.
``All those in uniform today are given special treatment -- with New Yorkers coming up to shake your hand, or buy you a coffee,'' said Major Lee R. Vartigian of the New York Army National Guard, a 42-year-old Afghanistan veteran who escorted the group to the breakfast.
The Navajo Code Talkers were special guests at the opening ceremony, capped by the laying of wreaths at the park's World War I Eternal Light Monument.
As young Marines during World War II, the Navajo men were crucial to U.S. victories in the Pacific, communicating secrets using their native language -- an encryption the Japanese were never able to crack.
``Although we have been abused in many ways, we still went out and were first on the front lines,'' said Little, who wore the traditional Code Talkers gold shirt and turquoise Navajo jewelry.
Their signature red flag fluttered in the Manhattan breeze, topped by a single feather.
Another Code Talker, Kee Etsicitty, remembered how as a child, his mouth was washed out with soap when he tried to speak his tribal language. At 87, the frail Navajo from Gallup, N.M., said he was ``grateful'' to be in New York for the first time, an honored guest looking in wonder at ``so many people, so many cars!''
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said much had been done to improve veterans' lives, including better health care and free college tuition for returning military. But he said one in four homeless people in the nation is a veteran, a total of more than 130,000 on any given night.
``That is a disgrace,'' said the senator, who has just re-introduced the Home for Heroes Act in Congress to provide housing for all veterans.
About 240,000 veterans live in New York City alone. Eighty-eight New Yorkers have died in Afghanistan and Iraq, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
But Wednesday was also a day of celebration.
Curtis was one of five parade grand marshals. The 84-year-old was born as Bernie Schwarz and grew up in the Bronx. As a teenager, he lied about his age so he could volunteer for service aboard a Navy submarine.
On Wednesday, the star actor wore a white cowboy hat as he rolled up Fifth in a white vintage Cadillac convertible.
TM & Copyright 2009 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO & EYE Logo TM & Copyright 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. TheAssociated Press contributed to this report.
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