VVA Chapter 1069 Members Participate in El Campo Christmas Parade
[posted on: 12-5-2021]

On Thursday, December 2, 2021, several chapter members (see photo below) participated in the 2021 El Campo Christmas Parade. This was one of the largest El Campo Christmas parades ever, with over 50 participating floats. And one of the largest attended parades ever.

Above and below photos show some of the members of VVA chapter 1069 that participated in this years parade. VVA Chapter 1069 President, Joe McCreary (2nd from the left), is one of the chapter participants in this year's parade. Behind them is the chapter's parade "float" that they rode on during the parade. The float is actually a Vietnam War era, Military, ,5-ton, 6x6 Wrecker - a beast for sure. Also attached to the truck is a same-vintage military trailer. The "float" is owned by Joe Freeman of El Campo, he himself a Vietnam Veteran. VVA Chapter 1069 wants to thank Joe for participating in this year's El Campo Christmas parade, and inviting members of VVA Chapter 1069 to ride with him in the parade.

Above photo shows two beautiful motorcycles owned by chapter members, Augie Limas and Harold Peikert. As you can see, both members have several flags attached to the rear of their motorcycles which make for a really nice parade float. A big thanks to both members for coming out to support the chapter. The guys all gathered at Joe Freeman's place the day before the parade to decorate the big Army truck and trailer with lights, flags and our chapter banners. Thanks to all who came out to help!

Above photo shows our recently elected chapter President, Joe McCreary, getting to ride shotgun in the big Army truck for Joe Freeman, in this years parade! Thanks for coming out Joe! And a BIG thanks to chapter member Ronnie Miller for taking the above photos. And a BIG thanks to chapter Vice President, Larry Monroe, for organizing the float decoration party. And thanks to Augie Limas for getting our registration paperwork in place for entering the parade and ensuring that we were postitioned at the front of the parade.

Above photo shows our chapter members riding in the parade, with Augie and Harold leading the way on their motorcycles.

Above photo shows the monster Army truck, driven by Joe Freeman, with chapter President, Joe McCreary riding up front with Joe.

Above photo shows our chapter members and Joe Freeman's grandkids riding in the Army trailer. Our chapter members commented that this was the largest turnout for the El Campo Christmas parade that they've ever seen!

Unfortunately this year, we were not able to get pictures of our members riding in the parade. However, with much thanks to chapter member, Carolyn Milder, we can provide two online sources for viewing both parade pictures and viewing the entire parade video! Both of which were taken by the El Campo Leader News team. Note that I cannot capture and post any of the EC Leader News photos, as they have been copyrighted and tagged with a big PROOF marker.

So, you may use the two links below to either view pictures, or view the video, of our chapter members riding in the parade. And again, even though the pictures have been tagged with a big PROOF copyright marker, they are still very much viewable. And note that even though the video has been posted to Facebook, you can still watch it without being a Facebook member (thank goodness ). And while watching the video, you will see our float appear after about 5 minutes into the video.

And not to worry - I have aquired parade pictures that I will be showing on the big projector at our next chapter meeting.

Use the Link below to visit the El Campo Leader News website to see parade pictures. Note that the photos are marked with a PROOF stamp, but the photos are still viewable.

Use the Link below to visit Facebook to see the entire video of the parade. Note that our chapter was the 2nd float in the parade, behind the American Legion veterans.

Note that our chapter has participated in several past El Campo Christmas parades. And we have also had some fun float preparation parties, for sure. Use the links below to read and view some of our past Christmas parade events.

Thanks to everyone who helped organize our participation in the 2021 El Campo Christmas parade! Especially a really big thanks to Joe Freeman for his support of our chapter and allowing us to ride with him in the parade. And finally, thanks to those members who participated in this year's parade. This is our once-a-year opportunity to show the residents of Wharton and surrounding counties that the Vietnam Veterans of America are here in their community.

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