If you love freedom, hail a vet.
Flag−waving Brooklynites took to the streets to pay tribute to their war with Memorial Day parades in Sheepshead Bay and Gerritsen Beach.
Marching bands, banner groups and local veteran organizations added pomp to the strolling salutes, presented by Sheepshead Bay⁄Plumb Beach Civic Association, and the Argonne Post 107, Veterans of Foreign Wars, respectively.
In the bay, patriots, young and old, remembered the brave men and women, past and present, of the United States Armed Forces by marching on the north side of Bragg Street, at Emmons Avenue, and continuing their line of march down Nostrand Avenue before returning along Emmons Avenue to the memorial park on Brown Street for reflection and rites, including a floral wreath placement ceremony.
In Gerritsen Beach, nationalists jumpstarted their march at Plumb 2nd Street and Whitney Avenue, crossing Gerritsen Avenue to Burnett Street and Whitney Avenue – the site of a Veterans of Foreign Wars memorial – as part of the Armed Forces Day commemorative.
From there, marchers headed back to Gerritsen, proceeding along the avenue to St. James Church for a wreath presentation ceremony, followed by a stop at the E. J. Matthews Knights of Columbus Hall for tribute services at the memorial honoring Vietnam veterans and 9⁄11 victims.
