Chattanooga's Armed Forces Day Parade honors veterans

A marching band made up of members of several area high school bands fills Market Street at the intersection with Fourth Street during the Armed Forces Day parade on Wednesday, May 1,  2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.
A marching band made up of members of several area high school bands fills Market Street at the intersection with Fourth Street during the Armed Forces Day parade on Wednesday, May 1, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Connon Crabb's daughters joke that he is the only World War II veteran in the city still slim enough to fit into his original Navy uniform.

On Friday, Crabb, 88, sat proudly in his crisp, clean white sailor's outfit he was issued during the war, watching the city's annual Armed Forces Day Parade. He was just a few seats away from the Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Jonathan Greenert.

Greenert, one of the only Joint Chiefs of Staff to visit the Scenic City, told the Times Free Press in an interview that he was honored to be able to come to Chattanooga to attend the parade and honor the city's veterans.

"Because of our veterans we can have this parade today," Greenert said. "The old saying is still true, 'Freedom is not free.' They paved the way for us."

Parade Marshal Mickey McCamish said this is the longest-running parade of its kind in the nation.

"It is a very big deal to have Admiral Greenert here," McCamish said. "The fact that Congressman Chuck Fleischmann was able to get him here shows the importance of the parade and what it means to people in this city."

McCamish himself is a retired captain with the Navy, where he served for 27 years. He said the parade brings back so many good memories - including the time he marched in the parade as an ROTC cadet in 1957.

"I am just constantly amazed how patriotic this city is," McCamish said.

"The Volunteer State has a culture of service, loyalty and dedication. It's the environment that I grew up in, and the environment that still exists."

Block after block of Market Street was lined with onlookers as the parade moved down the street. Kids danced to patriotic tunes, waving flags. Some veterans watched from wheelchairs, and others swapped stories with friends in uniforms. Cheers erupted as the U.S. Navy Band played, followed by the Howard School's Navy ROTC Tiger Company, which is the only Navy ROTC program in Hamilton County.

After the parade, Greenert spoke at the Armed Forces Day Luncheon at the Chattanooga Convention Center.

He told those in attendance about the Navy's current mandate around the world, and how the Navy functions as part of a joint force to protect the peace and ensure world trade.

"Presence is our mandate," Greenert said. " Your Navy has to be where it matters, when it matters. We have to be there around the world when a crisis is erupting, because this is not a stable world, and won't be for a long time."

Greenert talked specifically about the role of the oceans in world trade, saying that 70 percent of the world is covered in water, and 80 percent of the world's population lives near that water. But regardless whether people live on the shore or deep inland, they are affected by the oceans, because that is how 90 percent of the world's trade travels, he said.

"The value of your Navy is economic, but it is not just economic. It's a deterrent of aggression and a reassurance to the allies," he said. "We'll be on watch. We are relevant and busy and we're on demand, but again we are a part of a joint force."

At the luncheon, Greenert mentioned meeting Crabb in his sailor outfit at the parade. Crabb told the admiral how he first wore that uniform 70 years ago.

Laughing, Greenert said, "We make uniforms today and they don't last for 70 years."

Contact staff writer Kendi Anderson at kendi.anderson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592.

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