In the middle of America — downtown Pine Bluff — Americana was on full display for those who defended this country.
The city hosted its first Regional Veterans Parade, drawing an estimated 237 participants from southeast Arkansas and beyond for a mid-Saturday morning stroll from East Fifth Avenue, down Main Street, to East Eighth Avenue to the Convention Center. The parade also continued the celebration of Veterans Day, which was Tuesday.
“I’m proud to have it,” said Leslie Roby, who served in the U.S. Army from 1980-85 and was stationed in Kansas, Georgia and Germany. “Glad to have a Veterans Day parade in the city of Pine Bluff. … I’m glad I went into the military to serve the country.”
Veterans Arthur Dennis and Lucky Trammell III hung out where the parade made the turn south onto Main Street.
“I think they should do it annually and respect the veterans as much as possible. They deserve it,” said Dennis, who served in the Marine Corps from 1980-86. “Also, they should recognize the veterans who are deceased. It’s a good thing.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“This is great, and I think this is something they should continue,” said Trammell, an Army soldier from 1996-2016 who fought in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. “It should be a yearly annual tradition. This is great. This is wonderful to be able to come out and receive this type of love for veterans. It’s overwhelming.”
The parade was the brainchild of Theresa Harrell-Orso, a volunteer with Disabled American Veterans for the city. Mar’Tavius Proctor, projects and communications coordinator with the mayor’s office, credited Harrell-Orso with meeting with city officials to drum up support for a veterans museum.
“As an administration, we wanted to do more for our veterans,” Proctor said. “We brainstormed on some immediate events we could do to kind of show our appreciation for the veterans who have contributed so much to this nation.”
Brig. Gen. Olen “Chad” Bridges, adjutant general in the Arkansas National Guard, and Lt. Col. Natasha Campbell of the Army, were the grand marshals. Thomas F. Vaughns, who at age 105 is believed to be the oldest living Tuskegee Airman, was scheduled to serve as grand marshal emeritus but was unable attend for undisclosed reasons, according to one of the parade coordinators.
About 10 towns across Arkansas, mostly those in Jefferson County and the southeast corner of the state, were represented with groups marching. (Dennis said he loved the representation of so many towns.)
Proctor anticipates that the steering committee for the parade will reach out to more communities to send entries for the 2026 event.
“We started to just focus on southeast Arkansas, but then we started to get interest,” Proctor said, adding that Bridges’ arrival propelled other communities to show interest in the event. “We already have a great support system.”
