Normally on Veterans Day, volunteers gather at the Riverside National Cemetery in California to place flags alongside more than 300,000 gravesites. But not this year.
The longest federal government shutdown on record is curtailing and outright canceling parades, ceremonies and other events across the U.S. that are normally held to mark Veterans Day. It’s another fallout of the shutdown that has disrupted flights and food assistance, and was already being squarely felt by military families who are worried about their paychecks.
In California, organizers of “A Flag for Every Hero” said they couldn’t move forward with the event on Tuesday without access to restrooms, traffic control and other needs for the thousands of participants. Elsewhere, a lack of federal employees and access to military facilities has scrubbed other Veterans Day events.
“We have a responsibility to provide them the resources they need, and unfortunately with the shutdown we’re unable to do that,” Laura Herzog, founder and CEO of Honoring Our Fallen, which organizes the Riverside National Cemetery event.
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Many communities will still hold Veterans Day gatherings, including some of the nation’s largest and well-known events such as the annual observance at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia and the New York Veterans Day Parade.
The disruption to a federal holiday that is intended to honor those who have served in the armed forces comes as military families face uncertainty week to week about their pay. The Trump administration has found ways to pay troops twice since the shutdown began Oct. 1.
The Texas National Cemetery Foundation canceled an annual Veterans Day event at the cemetery in Dallas-Fort Worth, saying organizers wouldn’t have time to stage the ceremony even if the shutdown ended soon. In Virginia, city leaders in Hampton cited concerns about a lack of service members to participate in its annual parade because of the shutdown.
“Our veterans deserve to be recognized with great pomp and circumstance,” Hampton City Manager Mary Bunting said in a news release. “Without the presence of our active-duty military, we are concerned that the parade would appear sparse and that the recognition might fall short of the honor our veterans so richly deserve.”
Organizers of Detroit’s annual Veterans Day parade say they’re moving forward with the Sunday event, but it won’t include an appearance by a U.S. Army band or a helicopter flyover. Others are relying on even more help from volunteers than usual to make up for the lack of federal resources.
The Wyoming Valley Veterans Day Parade, which has been a tradition in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, every year since 1945, will still take place Sunday. But organizers have had to scramble because of the shutdown, asking veterans to participate. And instead of military vehicles, the parade will feature motorcycle groups and car clubs.
“We’re going to have a parade, one way or another,” said Susan Allen, a retired Navy lieutenant commander who chairs the parade committee. “We have no choice but to make lemonade out of these lemons.”
Despite the upheaval, some communities are still trying to find ways to honor veterans even as events are canceled.
In Mississippi, the Gulf Coast Veterans Association canceled its annual parade in Pass Christian. But the group said it would use funds for the event to instead provide Thanksgiving dinners for veterans and active-duty members.
“While we share in the disappointment, we are choosing to turn this setback into a blessing,” the group said in a Facebook post.
When U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales learned that the Veterans Day ceremony at Fort Sam Houston Cemetery in San Antonio wouldn’t take place, the Republican congressman’s office took up organizing the annual event.
Gonzales, a Navy veteran whose grandfather is buried at the cemetery, said that meant working with nonprofits to find someone to sing the national anthem and to provide chairs for attendees.
“We honor our veterans no matter what, and that’s exactly what we did,” Gonzales said.
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