Air show and parade to mark Veterans Day

The 60th anniversary of D-Day and Veterans Day's 50th anniversary both will be commemorated at ceremonies across the valley this week as part of activities honoring those who have served in the U.S. armed forces.

Nellis Air Force Base this weekend will host its third Aviation Nation air show -- a large-scale, free, behind-the scenes look at American military and civilian aviation. The annual Veterans Day Parade will be held downtown Thursday, and the Fremont Street Experience is in the middle of a 10-day tribute to America's troops.

Aviation Nation alone will draw about 150,000 people to its two-day air-show Saturday and Sunday in the largest official 60th anniversary tribute to D-Day veterans this year, according to the U.S. Army Commemorative Committee.

The event, which begins at 9 a.m. each day, with gates opening at 8 a.m., commemorates the June 6, 1944 landing of 160,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy, France. Admission and parking at the nearby Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 7000 Las Vegas Blvd. North, are free. There is a $2 shuttle charge to be taken from the Speedway to Nellis.

The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds will headline, taking to the Southern Nevada skies. They will be joined by the Army Golden Knights parachute team, several military air demonstration teams and some of the nation's top civilian air performers, including Sean Tucker in the Oracle Challenger and the Red Baron Pizza Biplane Squadron.

The history of American aviation also will be on display at Aviation Nation, with more than 100 aircraft ranging from a replica of a World War I Sopwith Strutter to America's newest air superiority fighters.

For more information and for a full schedule, visit www.nellisairshow.com.

The Las Vegas Veterans Day Parade begins at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Fourth Street and Gass Avenue. The parade will travel north along Fourth Street from Charleston Boulevard to the Fremont Street Experience. The National Guard's 300th Army Band will perform, and vintage planes from World of Wings will do a flyover at about 11 a.m. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman will serve as honorary grand marshal.

For more information about the parade, visit www.lvvetparade.org.

Immediately following the parade, there will be free entertainment and activities at the Fremont Street Experience, until 4 p.m. Fremont is amid its 10-day Patriot Party salute to U.S. troops, featuring restored vintage aircraft and and free concerts. Glacier Girl, a P-38 aircraft recovered from beneath 268 feet of ice and restored, is on display at Third and Fremont streets through Sunday. Crawford's Vintage Dance Orchestra, an 11-piece swing band, will perform at 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. And the "American Freedom" Viva Vision light show will play at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. daily through Sunday.

"(We) are tremendously excited about all the Patriot Party activities," Fremont Street chief executive officer Joe Schillaci said. "This is an ideal venue for veterans groups ... that could make for one heck of a military reunion."

For more information about the Patriot Party, visit www.vegasexperience.com.


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