Tulsa's Annual Veterans Day Parade

<p>One of the largest Veterans Day parades in the U.S. kicks off Friday morning in downtown Tulsa. The 99th annual Tulsa Veterans Day parade gets underway at 11 a.m. at the corner of 3rd and Boston. </p>

Friday, November 10th 2017, 5:12 am

By: News On 6

Thousands of people packed downtown Tulsa for the Veteran's Day Parade Friday.

Tulsa’s parade is one of the largest Veterans Day parades in the country.

The theme for the 99th annual parade was "Generations of Service."

This year's Grand Marshall was William Grisez from the Army Air Corps. He was a Prisoner of War during World War II.

Before the parade, News On 6 stopped by the VFW Hall for the annual free breakfast for veterans.

Commander Joshua Starks talked about their mentorship program, which pairs World War II or Vietnam veterans with young soldiers.

"Because what you have now is someone who has been dealing with PTSD, TBI, or all the myriad of issues veterans face, and those vets have been dealing with it for 50 years and they tell them, ‘Look, there is a path forward, you just have to walk down it,” Starks said.

The commander said the mentorship program has been in the works for about two years.