BELLEVUE, Neb. (KMTV) — The City of Bellevue honored Veterans Day early with a long-standing tradition: a parade in its historic downtown. It's the state's largest parade that celebrates the holiday.
"It's been over 20 years of doing the Veterans Day parade, obviously we've got Offutt here, so we have a lot of military men and women that come in and out of Offutt, so they're like family," Mayor Rusty Hike said.
For those willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, Hike wants to stress that it will not go unnoticed.
"We really appreciate their service. We take care of their families when they have to go off and serve, they are in a good place here, we are just proud to be able to help for them helping us," Hike said.
This grand gesture speaks to Stacy Sconzert, an Active Duty member of Offutt Air Force Base. She has hopes that the fight for freedom won't end with her.
"I'm a second-generation, you know. Hopefully, one of my kids will follow in my steps, and join as well," Sconzert said. "We've seen lots of friends and family members go through, we've seen lots of fallen comrades through my years of service."
For Terry Cavin, who is retired after 21 years in the Air Force, he's got high hopes for his neighbors: to pause, reflect and "give thanks" to those willing to give up so much.
"The amount of sacrifices that military personnel give up, that people don't realize, the amount of families and sacrifices that everybody gives in the military when they do traveling, away from their families and everything else," Cavin said.
Mayor Hike believes there's only one thing he can do to express his gratitude.
"All I can say is thank you for those sacrifices, and we're behind you," Hike said.
There were over 80 floats with thousands of people in attendance.
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