Tampa Bay Veterans Parade Turns 25

TAMPA, FL – What started as an idea between two friends to celebrate veterans is celebrating its silver anniversary this Veterans Day.

The 25th annual Tampa Bay Veterans Day Parade is set for Saturday, Nov. 11 at 10 a.m. in along Hanley Road between Barry Road and Paula Drive. Hanley Road will be closed in both directions from West Waters to Hillsborough avenues 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 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 25th anniversary Tampa Bay Veterans Parade Honoree is World War II veteran U.S. Army Air Corps Sgt. Vincent “Vinny” Oliverio. Oliverio began his military career in 1943 at the U.S. Army Training Center in Buffalo, N.Y. He was trained as a radio operator and was well versed in Morse code.

His first assignment was as a radio operator at Drew Field in Tampa, where the 761st Air Warning Unit was created. After completing his training, the unit was sent to Hampton Roads, Va., and then on to Oran, Africa. In early 1944, the unit, a contingent of 60 men split into six squadrons, was sent to Burma.

Oliverio’s unit was temporarily assigned to the 88th and 57th Army Air Corps Fighter Groups as radio operators. Their mission was to track Japanese bombers and fighters through the valleys of the Himalayan Mountains. The unit lived with local residents on three different remote Himalayan mountaintops throughout 1944 and early 1945, moving regularly to avoid detection.

The last surviving member of his squad, Oliverio’s lifelong dream of telling his unit’s story will come to fruition when Robert Lyman, the renowned World War II historical author, will write about them in an upcoming book.

Oliverio, 94, and his wife, Angie, spend most of the year in Holiday and their summers in their hometown of Salamanca, N.Y.

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, visit www.veteransparade.org.

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