PATRIOTIC PARADE: Marietta residents gather for annual festivities
Marietta residents gather for annual festivities
A little boy watches the Oak Grove Volunteer Fire Department truck during the annual Independence Day parade Tuesday in Marietta.
Photo by Kristen Hainkel AMVETS Post 1788 Second Vice Commander Bruce Haas sings “The Star Spangled Banner” at the Armory in Marietta Tuesday following the annual Independence Day parade.
A little boy watches the Oak Grove Volunteer Fire Department truck during the annual Independence Day parade Tuesday in Marietta.
Photo by Kristen Hainkel AMVETS Post 1788 Second Vice Commander Bruce Haas sings “The Star Spangled Banner” at the Armory in Marietta Tuesday following the annual Independence Day parade.
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AMVETS Post 1788 hosted the annual Independence Day parade in Marietta Tuesday.
Participants started lining up along Fourth and Hart streets at 10 a.m. The parade began at 11 a.m., traveling along Fourth, Putnam and Front streets. It ended at Armory Square, where a ceremony was held.
AMVETS Second Vice Commander Bruce Haas sang "The Star Spangled Banner" to start the ceremony. Chaplain Steve Ross said a prayer at both the open and close of the ceremony.
"I appreciate everyone being here today to take part in the parade and joining us at the Armory," Marietta Mayor Josh Schlicher said. "July Fourth is a day in our national sphere that we look at as the birthday, the independence of America."
The guest speaker was Caleb Perkins, a former Army Ranger who spent eight years with the 75th Ranger Regiment as a sniper section leader. He completed six deployments, five to Afghanistan and one to Iraq.
"As the mayor was discussing about the Fourth of July, the first thing I want to say is: It's easy for us as human beings to get into a rut and a routine of doing something on a specific day or celebration (that) loses its meaning behind what we're doing," Perkins said.
Perkins told how he kneeled on an improvised explosive device (IED) during his fourth tour in Afghanistan.
"I take a knee to lower my silhouette, just the ranger in me, to lower my body position," he said.
"As I took a knee, I lowered onto a pressured IED. This bomb blew me 20 feet in the air. I ended up hitting the ground. My bell's rung."
Perkins sustained multiple injuries to his eyes and face and third-degree burns on the left side of his body.
"I was in critical condition. I went through multiple operations in 14 days," he said.
Perkins said people asked him why he returned to the military after his experience.
"A lot of people asked me, 'Why didn't you just quit and leave?'" he said. "I still wanted to serve my country. I made a full recovery."
After his deployments, Perkins decided to become a motivational speaker.
"I started going and doing a lot of motivational speaking about overcoming adversity," he said, "They asked, how can you go through so much trauma and not have a problem with that? I like to look at it as not something that's hindering me. I don't like the victim mentality."
Perkins said he wanted people to have one major takeaway from his speech.
"Perspective is a powerful thing, ladies and gentlemen. The number one thing I want to encourage all of you to do is to remember the sacrifice that was paid," he said. "I want to teach my kids to understand the value of the Fourth of July. It's to honor those men and women who fought and to recognize and refocus as Americans to be united, not divided."
The ceremony ended with a 21-gun salute performed by members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and Marine Corps League.
Kristen Hainkel can be contacted at khainkel@newsandsentinel.com.