50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War

Rochester, New York – On Saturday, Monroe County celebrated Veterans Day with its third annual parade at Highland Park.

People gathered along Goodman Street and Highland Avenue to honor those who served on Saturday, fifty years ago, when the Vietnam War came to a conclusion.

“The Vietnam Veteran” is the grand marshal of this year’s Monroe County Veteran’s Parade, a group that many feel is underappreciated after returning from war.

Ken Allocco, who lives in Greece, was a soldier in Vietnam.

“When we first came home, we didn’t get the respect that we get now, and it means a lot to us that they are putting this on for us,” Allocco said.

Charles Klauck, chapter president, states, “Whatever rank they received in the service we all came out with the title of veteran, so this was a chance to honor everybody that’s served the country and what they did during their service.”

“It gives the community a chance to show their support for our veterans,” stated Monroe County Executive Adam Bello.

“This has really quickly become one of my favorite traditions, which we started a few years ago here in the county,” Bello said. “Our Vietnam veterans in particular when they came home from their service a lot of them were treated really poorly when they came home and this is our community opportunity to come together to celebrate them to cheer them on and say thank you.”

Compared to previous years, Bello said the turnout for this year’s procession was the highest.

“What’s really meaningful to me to is the number of young people who are coming here we are surrounded by kids,” Bello remarked. “It teaches them about the cost of freedom and it teaches them really what it truly means to put service above self.”

Both young and old cheered as “The Vietnam Veteran” group marched along Goodman Street onto Highland Avenue.

“Emotional,” Allocco responded when asked about the effect of the audience on him. “It brings joy to my heart.”

Klauck, “Oh, this is an honor,” he said. “The average age of this group is 77 so it’s great to see the float here that they’ve build for us.”

According to Bello, he is optimistic that the event will keep expanding each year.