Veterans Day 2024: How to Celebrate in Birmingham on Monday, Nov. 11

By Cody D. Short | cshort@al.com The 77th Annual National Veterans Day Parade will take place in downtown Birmingham on Monday, Nov. 11. The parade celebrates the national holiday officially signed into legislation by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1954 and is the longest-running parade of its kind in the country. A color guard and marching band take to the streets of downtown Birmingham during the 1968 Veterans Day Parade. (Alabama Media Group Collection, Alabama Department of Archives and History; Howard Koplowitz/AL.com) A successor to the earlier Armistice Day, Veteran’s Day was first celebrated in 1947 in Birmingham. “Though Veterans Day is now recognized as a federal holiday and a state holiday in all states, Birmingham’s celebration remains the nation’s largest,” notes the website Bhamwiki. Among the sights at the 2024 parade, spectators can expect to see a riderless horse called Hank the Tank. The caparisoned horse or cap horse — a term that refers to wearing a saddle or decorative covering — is a tradition in military parades, including funerals. Hank will be led through the parade by the “cap walker” Grant Hardy, who serves with the Old Guard at Arlington Cemetery. Other organizations like local Shriners, a mixture of...