29-Jan-2012 - Veterans to march in St Louis welcome home parade

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(CNN) -- Hundreds of Iraq war veterans and other groups are expected to march Saturday in St. Louis in what organizers are billing as the first official "welcome home" ceremony by a major American city. In addition to veterans, the parade will feature 75 floats, marching bands and Anheuser-Busch's Clydesdale horse team, according to CNN affiliate KMOV. The event will also include resources for veterans nfl jersey supply to ease the transition to civilian life, the parade's organizers said in a news release. The names of every service member killed during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan will be read during a vigil also scheduled for Saturday, according to KMOV. The vigil is expected to take 12 hours to complete, the station said. The parade's St. Louis-based organizers decided to stage the event after President Barack Obama's announcement of the end of the Iraq war in December. "Our people are coming home to an America that needs their focus, their determination, and their endurance in the face of adversity more than nfl trade jerseys ever," the group said on its website. In December, Obama traveled to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for what the White House called a "welcome home" ceremony for Iraq war vets. In 1991, New York and Washington each held parades to honor service members after the conclusion of the Persian Gulf War. Neither city has held a parade for veterans of the more recent nfl headset conflicts. Two New York City Council members are pressing Mayor Michael Bloomberg to call a ticker-tape parade for veterans. "We are a city that prides itself on welcoming people from all walks of life; let us lead the way in opening our streets to the men and women of our armed forces," one of the proponents, Councilman Vicent Ignizio, wrote in a December 21 op-ed piece in the New York Post. "Our troops did what our nation asked; as a city, we should thank them for it."

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