Veterans Day Parades & Events in the Bay Area

On Veterans, Day a series of parades and ceremonies are scheduled. No matter where you are in the Bay Area this weekend, you can salute our vets and join the celebration on Sunday. A few Monday observances are also listed.

• San Francisco - a parade will step off from Market and Second streets at 11 a.m. This year's parade features a salute to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. The veterans and military contingencies will make their way through the Financial District before ending at City Hall.

•  San Jose - The Santa Clara County United Veterans Council presents its 94th annual Veterans Day parade in downtown San Jose at noon Sunday, preceded by an opening ceremony at 11 a.m. at Plaza de Cesar Chavez. The parade's grand marshal is United States Coast Guard Vice Admiral Paul F. Zukunft. The South Bay Blue Star Moms will be marching.

• Stanford - Veterans and some of their family members will come together at 5 p.m. in the A3C Ballroom in the Old Union for a single special event, an evening of personal stories, music, letters and conversation with six Stanford student veterans who recently returned from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The event is being cosponsored by the Stanford Storytelling Project, the Haas Center for Public Service and the Stanford Military Service Network. On Monday, wreaths will be placed at Memorial Court and the entrance to Memorial Auditorium, with a letter from Stanford President John Hennessy.

• Petaluma - 23rd annual North Bay Veterans Parade starting at 1 p.m. from downtown.

• Sonoma State University - Anti-war activist Country Joe McDonald will play a concert at the end of the 30th anniversary celebration of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Grove, which begins at 3 p.m. Rohnert Park Mayor Jake Mackenzie and Cotati Mayor Susan Harvey are also expected to speak at the ceremony.

• San Leandro - A veterans ceremony organized by the Alameda County Veterans Day Ceremony Committee and the American Legion will start at 11 a.m. in at the San Leandro Senior Community Center at 13909 E. 14th St. The event includes keynote speaker East Bay native U.S. Staff Sgt. Star Lara, a combat veteran in Iraq who has served in Europe and Asia.

• Milpitas - The first "Veteran of the Year" award in Milpitas will be announced and presented at a ceremony at 9 a.m. at Milpitas City Hall at 455 E. Calaveras Blvd.

• In Walnut Creek a free, open to the public ceremony will be held at the Lesher Center for the Arts at 1601 Civic Drive at 11 a.m.Walnut Creek Mayor Bob Simmons will speak and there will be a musical concert with patriotic songs and a salute to all the branches of the Armed Forces.

• Danville - A Veterans Day program is planned at the Performing Arts Center at the San Ramon Valley High School at 11 a.m. A slideshow will honor Korean War veterans and the keynote speaker will be U.S. Marine William Harbin who served during the Korean War.

• Concord - A Veterans Day event will be held at the Concord Vietnam Memorial at Newhall Park at 11 a.m. Disabled American Veterans National Service Officer LeRoy Acosta will speak, and a reading of the names on the Concord Vietnam Memorial plaque will take place at the end of the observance.

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