MADISONVILLE, Ky. (WEHT) — Members of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars hosted their 60th Veterans Day Parade on Madisonville’s Main Street on Sunday afternoon.

While 90 floats paraded down Main Street, plenty of the attendees could be heard saying “thank you” to those who sacrificed in the Armed Forces.

One veteran from the American Legion says an important part of the parade over 60 years is picking a theme, and the veterans chose “Remember Those That Came Before Us.”

Some also took the time on Sunday to display grateful messages saying “because of you, we’re free.”

As one of the organizers, Donald Carroll says one way we can thank veterans is visiting them at VA centers.

“Just support the veteran organizations because they do so much,” Carroll said. “We try to give a lot to our community. We’re involved in our community — supporting so many organizations.”

Air Force veteran Parvin Gibbs was in attendance at the parade, and he tells Eyewitness News that he had great experiences while serving tours in Korea and Thailand.

“We have a good military, and I was able to serve with all the four services,” Gibbs said. “They were gentlemen, and I learned a lot from them. I learned a lot.”

A couple things Gibbs says anyone can do to thank a veteran is to donate blood and consider becoming a nurse at a VA center — including the Eddie Ballard center in Hanson.

“When you’re short on nurses, they can’t take any more people in,” Gibbs said. “It’s a 160-bed unit, and they go about 65 retired military people in there. They can have more in there if we had nurses.”

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