Portland's Veterans Day parade returns to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Northeast Portland on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 10 a.m.
The parade ran for 46 years before the pandemic shut it down in 2020, first reported by OPB.
After the event lost its sponsor, Napoleon Hodgers took on the job of bringing it back. Hodgers is a veteran of the Marine Corps, the Army National Guard and the Air Force Reserve.
He had no civilian event-planning experience. Within 15 minutes of learning the parade had been canceled, he said, he decided to organize it himself. He gathered a group in early 2022 and started planning.
Friends who had organized parades told him planners start a year to a year and a half ahead of time. Hodgers had to learn the permit process from scratch.
Getting a parade permit, he told OPB, meant explaining the event's purpose, estimating crowd size, listing needed city resources and providing insurance information.
"The very least we can do is have a parade to honor their sacrifice," Hodgers said.
His main motivation was the Vietnam War veterans he met after moving to Oregon and joining veterans associations. Hodgers joined the military after the Vietnam era.
He said those veterans were not thanked when they came home. Instead, they were called names and spat upon. He wanted the parade to recognize what they gave up.
Multnomah County is also honoring veterans this week. The Board of County Commissioners adopted a Veterans Day proclamation on Nov. 4.
The county estimates 31,614 veterans live in Multnomah County.
For the fourth year, the county is joining the National Association of Counties' Operation Green Light for Veterans. The Morrison Bridge will be illuminated in green in the days leading up to Veterans Day to signal the county's support and encourage veterans to reach out to county service officers.
