BANGOR, Maine — As groups of veterans from World War II, the Korean and Vietnam conflicts and Operation Desert Storm slowly walked along Main Street in the Fourth of July parade, the crowd on both sides of Main Street gave them a lengthy standing ovation.
The applause choked up Veazie resident Frank Sprague. The 73-year-old said he might have fought in Vietnam but for being classified 4-F because he is colorblind, has flat feet and suffered from rhinitis.
“I was glad no one was shooting at me, but I felt bad that I was not over there with my friends,” Sprague said Saturday. “We come here every year to honor the veterans. The main thing is to honor the veterans.”
Several thousand people lined the route of the parade, which began at 11 a.m. on Wilson Street near Brewer Auditorium in Brewer. It took about 1½ hours to get across the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge, along Main Street in Bangor and to State and Exchange streets before disbanding at about 12:30 p.m.
It followed a pancake breakfast at the auditorium and serves as a warmup for the fireworks show scheduled for downtown Bangor at 9:30 p.m. Forecasters said the weather for the show should be cloudy and chilly, with temperatures in the 50s.
Lisa Weaver and her family were among those on Main Street. She, her daughter and son-in-law, Cassie and Anthony Holmes, have been Bangor Fourth of July parade observers or participants for several decades as Scouts or members of charitable organizations.
“It’s a great opportunity to see what the holiday and its history are all about,” Weaver said.
“This is probably the biggest crowd I have seen in a while,” Cassie Holmes said.
Like Sprague, Cassie Holmes said the site of veterans made her emotional.
“I am partial to older people,” said Holmes, who works as a certified nurse’s assistant. So is her mother.
“You see them in the parade and they are so proud out there,” Weaver said.
Nineteen-year-old Abbie Quinn of Bangor came to the parade with her 1-year-old son, Noah Beayon. Unlike Sprague, the parade was Quinn’s first. Childhood illnesses kept her housebound most of the time. Still, she said she would like to make attending the parade a tradition with her children.