Hanley Road Closing For Tampa Bay Veterans Day Parade

TOWN ’N COUNTRY, FL – A labor of love that has become one of the largest Veterans Day Parades in all of Florida will once again wind its way through one of Town ’N Country’s main thoroughfares.

The 23rd annual Tampa Bay Veterans Day Parade is set for Saturday, Nov. 5 at 10 a.m. along Hanley Road between West Waters Avenue and West Waters Avenue. Hanley Road will be closed in both directions from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. to accommodate the parade.

Barricades and signs will help direct traffic around the event. Hillsborough County recommends for drivers that need to travel in the Town ’N Country area to seek alternate routes.

The 2016 Tampa Bay Veterans Day Parade honoree is World war II U.S. Army Sgt. Earl Will Miller Jr. As an amateur HAM radio operator, Miller happened to be listening to his radio on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, making him one of the first people to hear of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Miller parlayed his radio knowledge in the military, becoming a U.S. Army Tech Sergeant Radioman in the 25th Tank Battalion, 14th Armor Division. He served with Sherman’s tanks during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945 and earned both the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

Miller’s also witnessed first-hand the horrors of the Dachau Concentration Camp when his unit arrived there in April 1945, and met with liberated prisoners.

In 1955, Miller, his wife and two daughters moved to Tampa, where he became an electrical engineer with TECO. Still actively pursuing education, Miller is presently learning sign language.

The Tampa Bay Veterans Parade traces its history to 1993, when Vietnam veterans Mark Fogarty (USMC) and E. Rock Roque (USAF) conceived the idea for their Town ’N Country community. While the event started with humble beginnings, it has now grown to one of the largest Veterans Day parades in the state of Florida.

The parade is run under the non-profit Veterans’ Day Parade Group Inc. Board members receive no financial compensation for their work with the VDPG.

For more information about the parade, contact Gerald Jacobs of the Veterans Day Parade Group at (813) 625-2424.

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