2015 AMERICA’S PARADE
HONORARY COMMITTEE
Grand Marshals and Marshals (See bios at right)
***
Bruce Mosler Chairman, Global Brokerage, Cushman &
Wakefield
James Cummings Managing Director, Chief Security
Officer, JP Morgan Chase
Dr. Libby O'Connell Chief Historian Emeritus, A+E
Networks
Wendy McClinton CEO/President, Black Veterans For
Social Justice
Harvey Bagg Chairman, United War Veterans Council
Doug McGowan Board Member, UWVC
Jim DeVary Board Member, UWVC
(as of press time)
THE ORIGIN OF VETERANS DAY
On the 11th hour of
the 11th day of the 11th
month of 1918, an Armistice was declared between the Allied nations
and Germany, ending
World War I, then known
as “the Great War.”
A year later, President
Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11 as
the first Armistice Day.
On November 11, 1921,
an unidentified American soldier killed in the
war was buried at Arlington National Cemetery; Congress declared
the day a federal holiday.
In 1926, Congress
passed a resolution calling for the President to
issue an annual proclamation marking Armistice Day, and 27 states
had made November 11
a legal holiday. In 1938
Armistice Day was declared a legal Federal
holiday.
World War II (1941-45)
saw more than 16 million
Americans serve in the
military; 5.7 million more
served in the Korean War
(1950-53). In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation
renaming Armistice Day
to “Veterans Day,” honoring American veterans
of all wars.
After a brief period
during which Veterans
Day was set as the fourth
Monday in October, In
1975, President Gerald
R. Ford signed a new law
returning the observation of Veterans Day to
November 11th, where it
has remained ever since.
8 FORWARD MARCH AMERICA’S PARADE
ROBERT M. MORGENTHAU
GRAND MARSHAL
U.S. NAVY, WORLD WAR II
F o r m e r
Ma n h at t a n
District Attorney Robert Morris
Morgenthau
has devoted
his life to the service of his
nation and community.
A New York City native, Morgenthau joined
the Navy after graduating
from Amherst College in
1941. He served throughout World War II aboard
destroyers in multiple theaters, rising to the rank of
Lieutenant Commander.
Mr. Morgenthau was
the Executive Officer and
Navigator aboard the USS
Lansdale when it was torpedoed and sunk by German aircraft while protecting a convoy. He then
served as the Executive Officer and Navigator on the
USS Harry F. Bauer, a new
destroyer assigned to support the Iwo Jima and Okinawa invasions. That ship
was both torpedoed and
hit by a 550-pound bomb
that failed to explode. The
ship’s crew received a Presidential Unit Citation for its
conduct during the Okinawa campaign.
After World War II, Mr.
Morgenthau
graduated
from Yale Law School and
entered private practice in
New York City. He began
his career as a prosecutor
in 1961 when he accepted
an appointment from President John F. Kennedy, a
boyhood friend, as United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New
York.
During his eight-year
tenure, Mr. Morgenthau
was widely acclaimed for
his prosecutions of cases involving tax fraud,
organized
crime,
and
white-collar crime. He also
established a special unit to
investigate securities fraud
and prosecuted bribery
cases against city officials,
IRS attorneys, and accountants.
After a few years in private practice and an unsuccessful campaign as the
Democratic nominee for
governor of New York, Mr.
Morgenthau was elected
Manhattan’s district attorney in 1974. Mr. Morgenthau, who was 55 when he
was elected, held that position through nine terms
until his retirement in late
2009.
As district attorney,
Morgenthau continued his
reputation as a staunch
fighter of organized and
white-collar crime