NEWS BRIEFS
Booker High School's Junior ROTC unit participates in the 2011 Veterans Day Parade. Photo by Norman Schimmel
VETERANS DAY EVENTS PLANNED IN SARASOTA AND VENICE
Veterans Day ceremonies will be held in Sara- sota and Venice on Sunday, Nov. 11.
A parade will march down Main Street in Sara- sota before a ceremony is held at Chaplain J.D. Hamel Park, a county news release says.
The Sarasota parade will begin at 10 a.m. at Main Street and Osprey Avenue. It will head west along Main Street to Hamel Park on Gulf- stream Avenue.
Among the marching units will be represen- tatives of veterans' service organizations, law enforcement agencies and fire departments and their color guards, marching bands and Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps units from the local high schools, as well as mem- bers of civic organizations, a City of Sarasota news release notes.
Historical military equipment also will be on view.
The guest speaker for the ceremony will be retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. George Hardy, a highly decorated veteran and most notably the youngest Tuskegee Airman.
Hardy was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in September 1944. He flew 21 combat mis- sions over Germany, 45 combat missions over Korea and 70 combat missions during the Viet- nam War, the news release says. He was hon- ored with the Distinguished Flying Cross with valor, the Air Medal with 11 Oak Leaf Clusters and the Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster.
The events are being coordinated by the Sara- sota Patriotic Observance Committee and the Venice Area Veterans Council, in coordination with Sarasota County's Veterans Benefits Unit.
For more information, contact the Sarasota County Call Center at 861-5000, or visit www. scgov.net.
