Patriotism on display during

Memorial Day parade

May 31, 2010 - 5:09pm

WASHINGTON - From across the country to across the river, people packed downtown D.C. Monday for the National Memorial Day Parade.

The parade featured a mixture of 30 different marching bands, floats, equestrian units, military vehicles, veterans units from World War II to the present and several hundred active duty personnel.

Many people who packed the Constitution Avenue parade route had ties to the military.

U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant R. Lee Ermey says he found the parade to be an emotional one.

"It brings a tear to my eye," Ermey says. "I'm a pretty hardcore guy. It's not easy to get me to cry. Patriotism in this country is alive and well."

Anthony Kearns of the Irish Tenors was part of the parade, singing "God Bless America."

[sic and "Amazing Grace"] He says he was there "to remember and honor those we have lost and to remember those who are, right now, fighting for freedom."

"When you wake up in the morning, and you don't have to worry, you have have little worries when you think of what these people have to deal with on a daily basis," Kearns says.

Earlier Monday, Vice President Joe Biden honored America's war dead at the annual Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. He was joined by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Biden personally left a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

President Barack Obama's Land of Lincoln tribute got washed out by a severe thunderstorm and high winds.

Andrew Mollenbeck contributed to this report.

(Copyright 2010 by WTOP and The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Provided to the Kearns website by Kirsten Fedewa