Seasonal & Holidays
Doylestown Honors The Fallen With Grand Memorial Day Parade (Photos)
All along the parade route, flags were everywhere, held in the hands of the youngest infant to the oldest veteran.
DOYLESTOWN, PA — In a tradition dating back more than a century and a half, Doylestown honored its fallen heroes on cloudy and damp Monday morning with a parade like no other.
Stretching from one end of town to the other, hundreds joined this year's march in a tribute to the men and women who gave their all on the battlefields of history.
Local veterans led the parade, carrying the colors in remembrance of their fallen comrades and no doubt thinking about friends and loved ones they lost in war.
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All along the parade route, flags were everywhere, held in the hands of the youngest infant to the oldest veteran.
Veterans waved from floats, some wearing their military uniforms and decorations.
And bands from throughout the Central Bucks School District performed patriotic music, including medleys featuring the songs of the U.S. Armed Forces.
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The Central Bucks West Marching Band. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
The Central Bucks West Marching Band. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
The Central Bucks West Marching Band. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 175. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
(Photo by Jeff Werner/Patch)
The Vietnam Veterans of America. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
(Jeff Werner/Patch)
American Legion Post 210. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
The Doylestown Fire Company No. 1. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
Doylestown Fire Co. No. 1. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
Doylestown Fire Company No. 1 rolled through town with its antique Ahrens “Fox” Pumper. And the Village Improvement Association turned back the clocks with an appearance by Visiting Nurse Miss Munsey.
Numerous community groups and organizations also joined the march including the Kin Center and Main Street, the Lenape Valley Foundation, the League of Women Voters, the Republicans and Democrats, the American Red Cross, the Town & Country Players, the Doylestown Rotary Club, the Travis Manion Foundation, and the Doylestown Historical Society, with its float spotlighting Doyle’s Tavern.
(Jeff Werner/Patch)
(Jeff Werner/Patch)
Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
The Tohickon Golden Eagles band. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
Doylestown Borough Council members Connor O'Hanlon, Larry Browne and Ben Bell. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
The DAR celebrating the Spirit of 1776. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
The Marching Titans from Central Bucks High School South. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
The Unami Warriors of Chalfont. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
Main St. and the Kin Wellness Center joined the march. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
The Tamanend Middle School Band. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
(Jeff Werner/Patch)
Visiting Nurse Miss Munsey. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
The Doylestown Historical Society with its float featuring "Doyle's Tavern." (Jeff Werner/Patch)
State Senator Steve Santarsiero. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
The Doylestown Masonic Lodge. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
The Central Bucks East High School Marching Band. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
Following the parade, the United Veterans of Doylestown gathered at the Doylestown Cemetery to pay tribute to the fallen by laying wreaths, sounding taps, and offering prayers during ceremonies led by Iraq War and Enduring Freedom veteran Dr. Jack Sariego, MD.
"On this day, forever consecrated to our heroic dead, we’re assembled once again to express our sincere reverence,” said Dr. Sariego. “These graves represent the resting place of many departed comrades who served in all wars. “Wherever the body of a comrade lays, there that ground is hallowed.
"Our presence here is in solemn commemoration of all these men and women - an expression of our tribute to their devotion to duty, to their courageousness, to their patriotism,” he continued. “By their service on land, on sea and in the air they have made us their debtors because in no small way they are responsible for our freedom today.
"Because of the efforts of our fallen brothers and sisters, the flag of our great nation still flies over the land of a free people. We are the land of the free because of the brave," he said.
The parade is organized by Doylestown Borough in conjunction with the United Veterans of Doylestown. Serving as the parade marshal was U.S. Navy Veteran Chris Suessenguth, who served from 1977 to 1984.
Saluting the fallen comrades at the Doylestown Cemetery. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
Laying wreaths at the Doylestown Cemetery. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
(Jeff Werner/Patch)
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