Veteran’s Day, Mesa, AZ

Mesa turned out to be a great place to be on Veteran’s Day. We joined friends in attending the East Valley Veteran’s Day Parade. It was a good turnout for a community parade that had the usual dignitaries speaking and high school marching bands.  There were a number of veterans celebrated. They did a good job of recognizing each service, and particular attention was paid to the older WW2 and Korean vets. There was a B25 flyover as well as a formation of WW2 era flight trainers. The Vietnam vets were well represented by a Huey flyover and another pulled by trailer in the parade itself.

Following the parade we enjoyed a luncheon held by the Arizona Chapter of the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation which was held int the Commemorative Air Force hangar. In fact we dined beneath the tail of the very same B25 that earlier flew over the parade.

B25 “Maid in the Shade” in the background.

Old people eating.

After lunch we were given a tour of the aircraft on display. Once again Barbara was treated to a view of aircraft I flew in my youth, and again, they were in a museum. There seems to be a common theme there.

B17 “Sentimental Journey”.

Tail Gunner Manni Quinn.

But wait! There’s more!

We finished the day with a very nice dinner at Gertrude’s restaurant at the Phoenix Botanical Gardens. The dinner and staff were wonderful, and the gardens looked like a great place to visit on our next trip. With the time change it was well after dark by the time we left and we were treated to the garden’s collection of Chihuly glass sculptures as we left the restaurant. The glass cactus looked like they were coated in ice, which was appropriate for those in Chicago today.

Mr. Chihuly knows nothing of the colorful meerkats.