FLORENCE — According to Vietnam War veteran Russ Warriner, the keynote speaker at Monday’s Veterans Day parade, “Veterans know better than anyone else the price of freedom, for they’ve suffered the scars of war.”

The Williamsburg native, who joked that he served in Vietnam for “eight years, nine months, and 21 days, but heck who’s counting,” has authored two books based on his experiences.

Shortly after returning home, Warriner started a support group for the men of his unit, which at the time had numbered 500, many of whom have since died due to health complications linked to their service in Vietnam.

In his speech at Trinity Row in Florence, Warriner reminded the crowd of more than 100 people about the importance of helping veterans.

“Let us strive to support them [our veterans] in every way possible as they transition back into civilian life,” he said, and quoted Ronald Reagan, who in 1983 said that “we can offer no better tribute than to protect what they have won for us.”

Organized by the Veterans Council of Northampton, the parade featured public service vehicles and vintage cars, both military and civilian. A trolley provided by 1812 Paint and Body Inc. made its way down the streets, with groups from Mass General Brigham, the Boys and Girl Scouts, and the Northampton Elks Lodge, all marching in support as they made their way to Trinity Row. Politicians were also on hand to share their thoughts and lend support.

While they were in the spotlight for the holiday, some veterans took the opportunity to thank their own support networks for enduring the price of freedom.

VFW Post 8006 Commander Thomas Pease said that the parade is both a “welcome home” for service members, and a “thank you” to those who provided support along the way, including family and friends.

“I must commend you,” he said, speaking to military families, “because you were there when we weren’t there — for family celebrations, birthdays and parties, anniversaries and what have you. You were holding things together while we served our country.”

He continued, “So today, along with welcoming home the veterans, I also want to personally thank each and every family member that stayed behind and supported us in our efforts for this great country.”

Another veteran, Keith Paro, has his own special support network — his dog — who walked alongside him during the parade. After serving as part of a medical battalion at Fort Bragg in North Carolina (renamed Fort Liberty in 2022), Paro experienced a time of homelessness and despondence when returning from service.

“Two years ago I was a homeless veteran with nothing but the clothes on my back,” he said.

Now, just a couple years later, he is a peer support specialist with Soldier On, a nonprofit committed to ending veteran homelessness. The organization took him in two years ago, giving him a place to live, access to education, and, most importantly, his dog.

Paro requested to be able to have a puppy while living on the Soldier On campus, and was the first to be allowed to do so.

“They allowed me to pick up a dog, and I’ve been training him. Here he is, he saved my life.”

Veterans’ stories

In his own experience returning to the States in 1969, Warriner said, he found the country “a very different place” — and cited the unfortunate fall of many of his peers into drug and alcohol abuse following their return home. “The things that were going on I couldn’t believe it,” he said.

Warriner had entered the service before he got his draft notice, which he said he did not receive until he was already in Vietnam. After serving in Vietnam from 1967 to 1969, he was stationed in Savannah, Georgia, and then would go to Korea, where he spent 29 months.

Another veteran in attendance Monday was Rebecca Drake, who served in the U.S. Army and whose father served in three wars. She shared her experience of being the first year of recruits to be trained in a co-ed environment following the abolition of the WAC, or Women’s Army Corp, in 1978. She was a member of ROTC through high school.

“It was a good experience,” she said.

Despite being a woman of color, and in light of America’s history of racial tension, she says that she is “proud to be born in the USA.”

As she emphasized her love for the country, and the patriotism she feels for her home, she recommended that all teens consider “serving their country for at least three years.”

Mayor: A day to pay tribute

Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra issued a citywide proclamation setting aside Monday as “a day for all residents of our community to pay tribute and remember the service and the sacrifice of our veterans and military personnel.”

Sciarra praised Central Hampshire Veterans Services for playing a leading role in the state, saying the group “continues to serve more veterans and their dependants per capita than any other city or town in the commonwealth, and in their work combat veteran houselessness, and prevented the loss of housing or rehoused more than 500 veterans, and is ever expanding their outreach and engagement efforts.”

Sciarra thanked public officials for attending, among them state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton and Northampton City Councilors Marissa Elkins, Stanley Moulton, Deborah Klemer, Alex Jarrett, Marianne LaBarge and Rachel Maiore. Public safety officials were also thanked for their attendance.

Heart of the Valley Chorus provided music, with a rifle salute by members of the VFW Post 8006 color guard.

Samuel Gelinas can be reached at sgelinas@gazettenet.com.