The annual Poway Patriotic Parade took place this year on Saturday, Sept. 10, one day before the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

On August 4, 2011, Chapter 0049 Adjutant Ulysses Miller, received an invitation from the Chair of the 2011 Poway Patriotic Parade. The question posed by Chair H. Dugdale was whether our Purple Heart Chapter would participate in its 47th parade which would honor the 10th anniversary of the “… events that changed American lives.”

My response was instantaneous. In an email back to Chairperson Dugdale, I accepted the invitation and told her we would have 10 Purple Heart recipients available to ride on the Purple Heart float. Thus began our journey to Poway on Saturday, September 10, 2011, to carry out a patriotic mission to honor all who have and will serve America in our mission to forge freedom throughout the land.

This year’s parade theme, “Honoring those who serve. Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow,” was chosen to pay tribute to the armed forces, law enforcement, firefighters, medical and support personnel. The registration deadline was extended to Aug. 31 so more groups could participate in the event.

Team members would meet at the Poway Library at 07:00 a.m. for a VIP breakfast and early registration for the start of the parade. The official start time was 09:00 a.m. By 08:00 a.m., all Purple Heart members were loaded aboard the buses headed to Pomerado Road and Poway Road for a 09:00 a.m. kickoff. The parade Grand Chairman was Medal of Honor recipient, Colonel Joe Vargas (ret.), along with Assembly- man Nathan Flether and Congressman Duncan Hunter. The parade kicked off at 09:05. The parade would have more that 109 entries and all 109 entries crossed the finish line at 11:00 a.m.

Several floats were dedicated to veterans, firefighters, law enforcement, CERT members and those from the Pomerado Hospital emergency room. The Poway Parade Committee pays tribute with a special float honoring Vietnam Veterans. It displays the sentiment, “Welcome Home.” Plenty of live music was enjoyed by all, including performances by the Southwest Navy Band. There was a special seating section so veterans had a great view of the festivities. The parade started at 9 a.m. at Pomerado and Poway roads and continued down Poway Road to the library. Click or scroll the gallery below!