Hundreds brave chilly temperatures to honor veterans at local ceremony

  • Published
  • By Ryan Stark
  • Nucleus writer
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  The streets around Kirtland came alive with activity to honor America's veterans on Wednesday, Veterans Day.

A parade crewed by vintage military vehicles, a sizable contingent of Albuquerque police and droves of young Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps members from local high schools set off from Bullhead Park at 9 a.m. It wound its way through the Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center campus and other streets nearby, ending at the New Mexico Veterans' Memorial.

There, festivities included Kirtland Airmen performing a parade of the flags of all 50 states. Heading up the formation was Senior Airman Junqing Liu of the 377th Medical Group.

"It's great to be here to show respect to our veterans," he said. "It's an honor to be carrying the 50 flags that make up the Union."

Among the dozens of veterans on hand was 14-year Army veteran Edward Troxclair. He was there with his son, a member of the Young Marines, and said it was the first Veterans Day event he had participated in since leaving the service 11 years ago.

"I don't wear this stuff very often," he said of his Army jacket and Operation Iraqi