Not Enough Troops/Equipment for Veterans Day Parades ...Boy Scouts being used ?!?!!!

[MORTARDUDE]

Not Enough Troops for Veterans Day Parades

By Coralie Carlson
Associated Press
Sunday, November 9, 2003; Page A10


MIAMI -- Even as thousands of U.S. troops are stationed in war zones abroad, plans for Veterans Day parades across the country are being scaled back or scrapped.



The problem: Not enough troops, tanks and Humvees to wow the patriotic crowds.

"With the large number of active and reserve units called up, a lot of them that would normally be available are on duty," said Bill Smith, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Washington.

Some cities are depending on Boy Scouts and other nonmilitary marchers to fill the gaps. In California, people from several small towns have decided to join the San Jose parade, said Lee Harris, a spokesman for the American Legion in Indianapolis.

The military has 131,600 troops deployed in Iraq, in addition to the troops serving in Afghanistan. War equipment usually available from state armories and military bases has been shipped out with the troops.

Deployments are not the only problem. While a dwindling number of older veterans are available, the younger ones often have to work on Veterans Day, Harris said.

"We've really hit bottom as far as returning veterans are concerned," said Russ Geyer, an Army veteran who heads the parade committee in Miami Lakes. Only a handful of troops and a color guard from the U.S. Southern Command will be among the 750 people marching Sunday in the parade in the northwest Miami suburb, which previously had drill units and military bands.

Deb Skidmore, a spokeswoman for the Army at Fort Riley, Kan., said the base turned down invitations from about a dozen towns for its troops to participate in Veterans Day parades.

"We have two-thirds of our post deployed," she said. "We just can't meet all of these requests when we don't have the soldiers to do it."

But not every city is having trouble.

A big crowd is expected in Jacksonville, Fla., where there are two large Navy bases and a large number of retired military personnel, a spokeswoman for Mayor John Peyton said. And about 600 members of the Indiana National Guard who just returned from Iraq will lead the parade Tuesday in Indianapolis, Harris said.


? 2003 The Washington Post Company