Downtown Delaware turned red, white and blue on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 1, as thousands of people lined the streets for the annual Delaware Veterans Parade, an event recognized as the largest veterans parade in Ohio. The Delaware Source reported that this year’s parade reached capacity, with more than 200 units and approximately 1,900 participants taking part in the patriotic celebration of veterans, active-duty service members and military families.
The parade stepped off at 3 p.m. from the main gate of the Delaware County Fairgrounds, according to The Columbus Dispatch. Marchers traveled east on Pennsylvania Avenue, turned south on Sandusky Street and moved through downtown Delaware before concluding on Wilmer Street, just south of Ohio Wesleyan University — a route that takes the procession past the storefronts and street corners where Delaware residents gather every year for the occasion.
This year’s parade carried a particular meaning for the host community. The 2026 edition commemorated the 20th anniversary of the safe return of the U.S. Army Reserve 454th Rebuild Transportation Company, known as “Delaware’s Own,” from Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Columbus Dispatch reported. The unit deployed from Delaware in 2005 and returned home in November 2006, and its homecoming has remained a touchstone for the city’s veterans community ever since…