Due to the annual Veteran’s Day Parade being canceled, the Bakersfield community instead organized a Veterans Day Cruise to celebrate Veteran’s Day safely.
Jordan Tyack and Debbie Lee helped organize a cruise for Veterans Day in replace of the veteran’s parade hosted every year on Nov. 11.
The cruise had starting locations throughout town, which started around 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This cruise incorporated different starting locations throughout town.
They also hosted a cruise in September to honor those who lost their lives in 9/11.
By having different locations to start the cruise there would be a greater possibility of more Veterans being able to see the Bakersfield community showing their love and support, according to Bakersfield Car Club Council.
“We wanted to make sure our elderly Veterans who have no access outside of their senior living facilities can be honored,” Lee explained. “If we just cruised Chester, they would miss out.”
Various events were happening on Nov 11, despite the absence or the parade. Lee stated that the cruise went by Greenlawn cemetery for the raising of the flag ceremony, as well as to honor the veterans buried at the cemetery.
“The Greenlawn Cemetery ceremony is also in part of an initiative to get headstones for all soldiers that have since passed and had never had one placed on their graves,” Lee explains. “There were over 500 unmarked graves of soldiers at Greenlawn on Panama Ln alone.”
Lee also stated that the participants cruised through a neighborhood to honor the WWII veteran that turned 100 years old.
To honor veterans, the cars ranged from classic to modern custom vehicles that were asked to have American flags, military branches, and POW/ MIA flags if accessible.
On Veterans Day, BC uploaded an overview of the veteran’s program at BC as well as helpful resources that are in the community. Armando Trujillo, veteran’s educational advisor at the BC Veterans Services and Programs explained that he is a Marine Corps veteran and has worked for the VA, so he understands the hardships that veterans go through.
He explained having veterans work for the BC program helps veteran students understand that they are there, and have support.
“Vet centers are community-based and apart of the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs,” said Benjamin Rodriguez, outreach specialist at the Bakersfield Veterans Center. “The goal of the vet center program is to provide a broad range of counseling, outreach, and referral services to eligible veterans in order to help them make a satisfying postwar readjustment to civilian life.”