Honoring America's Veterans,

Phoenix Veterans Day Parade

PRESENTED by Honoring America’s Veterans

Join 45,000+ spectators as we honor United States veterans

Wednesday, Nov 11th, 2026

Countdown to the 2026 HAV, Phoenix Veterans Day Parade!

Sponsorship Opportunities

Your generous tax-deductible contribution helps us pay tribute to our military veterans. We’d greatly appreciate your support.

Street Closure Map

Download a PDF of the Parade Route Street Closure Map by clicking the button below.

Parade Program

Download a PDF of the Parade Program below for all the information that you will need to know on the day of the Parade.

Parade Flyer

Download a PDF of the Parade Flyer to use as a reference to Parade highlights, tips, and information.

Parade Program Coming Soon

Support honoring america's Veterans

Boost the HAV Mission: Honor Their Service. Inspire the Future!

Join us as we host honor and recognition events to salute our veterans and their loved ones,

thanking them for their service and patriotism to our country.

Download a PDF of the Parade Program here for all the information that you will need to know on the day of the Parade.

Parade Details

Started in 1997, the Honoring America’s Veterans, Phoenix Veterans Day Parade, recognizes the contributions of our United States Veterans. The Parade helps build a patriotic Phoenix community spirit that recognizes the sacrifices veterans make for our country. The Parade couldn’t happen without the generous support of our community, our sponsors, the parade organizers, the Honoring Arizona’s Veterans board, and our parade participants.

Parade Map

Important: Route Change!

The Phoenix Veterans Day Parade will begin at 11 a.m and head North on Third Street from McDowell to Indian School Road

Parade Time

The exact time may vary depending on the final number of parade entries, but it typically lasts for two hours, starting at 11:00 a.m. and ending around 1:00 p.m.

Please allow ample time before and after for parking, and/or walking to the location you’d prefer to view the parade.

Parking

VISITOR PARKING is on a “first-come, first-serve” basis on the side streets around the parade route, so please come early and allow ample time to navigate crowds.

To find out the “side streets” where you can park and weave your way towards the parade, please look at the route closure map. It will tell you where the parade is, what streets close at what times and lists the side streets for you to access to find parking and then make your way into the parade route.

The route map also shows where speaker towers are located, if you’d like to sit nearby and hear entries announced as they march by.

TIP: Best availability for viewing? Camelback Road, East of Central Avenue and West of 7th Street. Second best availability is 7th Street just south of Camelback to Montecito.

Street Closures

HAV Veterans Day Parade, Phoenix Route Closure Notifications

7:30AM

Close Central Ave, from Bethany Home Road to Missouri
Close Montebello, from Central to 2nd Street

10:00AM

Close Central Ave. between Missouri and Camelback Road
Close Camelback between Central and 7th Street
Close 7th Street between Camelback and Indian School Roads
Close Indian School Road, 3rd Street to 9th Street
Close 7th Street, Osborn to Indian School Road

10:45AM

Close Missouri Avenue East Bound and West Bound

Entry Guidelines and Standards

Important! Please read our guidelines before applying for the parade:

HAV is pleased to provide a limited number of free parade entries to Local Veterans Service Organizations. Please contact us at info@honoringamericasveterans.org for availability and details.

Corporations interested in having a float, vehicle, marching band or other entry in the parade should visit the Sponsorship page, and contact us for details.

Please note we have a limited number of parade entries available; if we cannot accommodate your request, please consider booking a sponsorship for next year.

Why November 11th?

The Parade is held on Nov. 11th as that is the day in our history known as Armistice Day. It was on this date (11/11) at 11 a.m. that the signing of the Peace Treaty took place ending World War I.

We proudly commemorate the significance of this day by holding our Parade on Nov. 11th and starting it at 11 a.m.

A preview for what is to come...

We hope you’re as excited as we are! Get in the spirit by watching our trailer for the Veterans Day Parade.

Celebrity Grand Marshal for 2026

Stay Tuned for the Celebrity Grand Marshal Announcement

Last year we were extremely excited to have 6x UFC Champion Randy Couture as out Celebrity Grand Marshal! Check this page often, and as we get closer to the Parade, to find out who the Celebrity Grand Marshal will be for 2026.

Randy Couture 2025 Celebrity Grand Marshal

Before he became a heavyweight champion, movie star, and entrepreneur, Randy Couture was a young man in Army green, training, wrestling, and discovering what he was truly made of. From 1982 to 1988, Couture served with pride in the 101st Airborne Division, rising to the rank of sergeant. His years in uniform didn’t just shape his body—they shaped his mind, his leadership, and his future.

Business Community Grand Marshal

Freddy Alvarez

Alvarez’s leadership style blends strategic discipline with entrepreneurial courage. Drawing from his military precision and global business experience, he has built a reputation for identifying opportunities, empowering teams, and driving sustainable growth. His ability to turn challenges into measurable results has made him a respected figure in both the private and veteran business communities.

Learn more about the 2025 Veteran's Grand Marshals.

Honoring America’s Veterans hosts an Honor, Our Heroes, Veterans Grand Marshal’s Competition each year, where community members nominate veterans to serve as Grand Marshals. If selected, the Marshals serve as the representative for their era of service. They also ride in the parade, have their bios printed in the parade program and online, and receive other special recognition to make this a memorable experience. If you click on the image below, you can read this year’s Marshal bios.

Korean War Veteran Grand Marshal
HAV Veterans Day Parade 2025

U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Jerry Santy (RET)
Goodyear, Arizona

Following in the footsteps of his three brothers, who all served in World War II, Santy joined the military in 1952 upon graduating from high school.  Rather than being drafted into the Korean War, he joined the Air Force.  As his oldest brother was actually at Pearl Harbor, joining the military was one of the few options available to him in those days, since his parents couldn’t afford his college education.

After completing basic training in Texas and radar training in Colorado, his first assignment was to Yuma, Arizona, not South Korea, as the conflict had ended by 1953. As an airborne avionics technician, he serviced the training aircraft there.  His military career has spanned 17 assignments in 14 states over 20 years, including two full years at Hughes Aircraft Company, where he studied the newest radar systems.  

He served in two wars, Korea and Vietnam, and remembers being on alert status during the Cuban Missile Crisis when he was stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida.  While stationed there, he helped his squadron win the worldwide William Tell Flight Competition in the 1960s. He spent a year in Vietnam with the Spectre Program (technically in Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand, but that was all top secret in those days).  As head of aircraft maintenance of the C-130 gunships, they flew night missions against enemy logistics on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.  Upon his return to the United States, he was promoted to Senior Master Sgt. However, he was informed that he would be promptly returning to Vietnam for an additional tour. After serving one tour in Vietnam, he declined the promotion and instead said he would retire at 20 years as a Master Sergeant.

After retiring, Santy opened his very successful insurance agency. Continuing his military advocacy, he organized the Montana Military Retirees Association and successfully defeated several anti-military bills in the Montana Legislature.  One bill would have closed the VA Hospital in Helena, MT. Additionally, before Tricare replaced Champus, he initiated two separate federal Congressional investigations of the program, as Champus was inadequately paying military medical bills.

“In my community, I served on the Board of Directors of a multi-state federal credit union for over 30 years, served on the Board of Child and Family Services, served as Board president of a local mall, and even volunteered for a six-month AKC Collie rescue.  I dedicated many years to youth sports and scouting,” said Santy. “I am proud that my military legacy has been carried on by ten of my children and grandchildren who have served or are currently serving in the military,” he added.  

He is honored to serve as this year’s Korean War Veteran Grand Marshal in the Parade.

Cold War Veteran
HAV Veterans Day Parade 2025

U.S. Navy Commander Carl Bryon Forkner (RET)
Mesa, Arizona

Born in Chicago, IL, in 1958, Carl Forkner served 28 years as a Naval Flight Officer and Surface Warfare Officer. He began his Navy career as a Naval Flight Officer in the P-3C Orion aircraft, based in Jacksonville, FL, and participated in deployed operations against Libya in 1986. He then spent two years as a joint Advanced Navigation Instructor at Mather Air Force Base (AFB), CA, before rejoining the Navy on the staff of Carrier Group ONE in North Island, CA, where he flew the S-3A/B aircraft carrier-based aircraft. His Department Head tour took him to Ventura, CA, from where he deployed four times to Antarctica in support of the National Science Foundation. He was selected for a Fellowship at the Pentagon, from which he was promoted to Deputy Director for Naval Matters at the Center for Naval Analyses.

Following his tour in Washington, DC, he reported to the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) in Bremerton, WA, as Combat Direction Center Officer, Assistant Operations Officer, and Integrated Training Team Leader. On September 11, 2001, the ship was off the west coast of India, en route to the Persian Gulf, but it took station in the North Arabian Sea. It was here that the battle group and air wing launched the first strikes into Afghanistan on October 7, 2001. He returned home in 2002, becoming the Senior Naval Officer at NORAD’s Western Air Defense Sector HQ at McChord AFB, WA, where he was responsible for directing airborne operations for Operation Noble Eagle, protecting National Special Security Events, and providing Presidential support with the Secret Service when the President was west of the Mississippi. He finished his career as an Assistant Professor at the Air War College at Maxwell AFB, AL in 2011.

After retiring from the Navy, he completed the first of two Ph.D. degrees and then worked as the Chief Operations Officer for a Tempe training company. He left the business world in 2018 to volunteer full-time for the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) in Mesa, AZ, where he served as a Veteran Service Officer, Chapter Adjutant, and Chapter Commander, before being elected Junior Vice Commander for the state DAV organization. In June 2025, he became Department Adjutant and CEO for DAV in Arizona.

His civic accomplishments include serving as a Boy Scout leader, a Dementia Friends Champion, Secretary/Treasurer of the Board of Directors of Resurrection Street Ministry, which supports homeless and underserved veterans, and Chair of the Mesa Chamber Veterans Program.

Carl Forkner is an outstanding leader who exemplifies honor, courage, and a commitment to his community and its residents, as well as to veterans.

Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran Grand Marshal
HAV Veterans Day Parade 2025

U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major Rick Kreiberg (Ret.)
Gilbert, AZ

Rick Kreiberg was born on Fairchild Air Force Base (AFB) in Spokane, WA, and served in the United States Army for 35 years from 1983 until 2018. He served in multiple locations stateside and overseas, including a deployment to Iraq in 2004.

His career encompassed logistics, aviation, recruiting and retention, transportation, maintenance, training, operations, procurement, civil affairs, and installation management. He also led at every level from squad leader to brigade Command Sergeant Major. He earned numerous awards and decorations, most notably the Legion of Merit Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with eight Oak Leaf Clusters, the Combat Action Badge, Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, and the Gold Recruiter Badge with three sapphires.

Kreiberg’s military education encompasses every level of Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development, including the Sergeant’s Major Academy (Class 59). He also completed the Joint Senior Leaders Course, the Pre-Command Course, the Garrison Leaders Course, Logistics Management Course, Battle Staff Course, US Army Airborne School, Air Assault Course, and US Army Recruiting School.

After retiring from the Army, Kreiberg discovered that pre 9/11 Veterans, especially Vietnam Veterans, were not getting the same level of resources, care, and respect that post 9/11 Veterans receive. To address the needs of those who served before him, Rick founded the non-profit Veterans Affinity, which helps Veteran seniors (at no cost) with housing, healthcare, honors, and benefits.

Kreiberg says he and his team of volunteers are truly minimizing barriers to Veterans’ care. “To date, Veterans Affinity has enrolled nearly 2,000 veterans into the VA healthcare system, coordinated long-term and hospice care for almost 1,000 veterans, escorted over 500 housebound Veterans to their medical appointments, and assisted over 600 Veterans with their VA pension and survivors’ benefit claims.”

Kreiberg also made it his personal mission to ensure every Veteran, regardless of status or service dates, is seen, heard, supported, and remembered. He and his volunteers make that happen every day by visiting isolated Veterans, comforting terminally ill Veterans bedside, building camaraderie through Veteran coffee hour socials across Arizona, and hosting Welcome Home Ceremonies for those who never received one.

Kreiberg’s pride and joy are his two adult children, Chad (24) and Chloe (20).

Congratulations to the Essay Competition Winners for 2025

Honoring America’s Veterans announces the 2025 High School Essay Competition winners. Many high school students entered the contest, which required them to write a 300-400-word essay based on the theme of both the essay competition and the HAV Veterans Day Parade, Phoenix: “America, Our Guiding Light.”

Entries were judged for their focus on the quality of the story and its impact, writing and grammar, and adherence to the theme. A winner is declared for each high school grade level. 9-12.

Winning Essay students receive $250 cash prizes, the opportunity to ride in the HAV Veterans Day Parade, Phoenix, obtain memorabilia from the event, and the winning entries’ teachers receive $250 to use in their classrooms.

Click on their photos below to read their winning essays.

Essay Competition 2026

Compete against hundreds of students and submit your essay today. This year’s theme will be 250 Years of Freedom, 30 Years of Honor. The essay competition opens at midnight on August 4th, 2026 and closes at 11:59 pm on September 11th, 2026. All essay submissions are due at that time.

Honoring America’s Veterans announces the 2024 High School Essay Competition winners. More than 140 high school students entered the contest, which required them to write a 300-400-word essay based on the theme of both the essay competition and the HAV Veterans Day Parade, Phoenix.

Entries were judged for their focus on the quality of the story and its impact, writing and grammar, and adherence to the theme. A winner is declared for each high school grade level. 9-12.