TAMPA, Fla. — Veterans Day is on Thursday, and ahead of the holiday, one of the state's largest veterans parades will be taking over the streets in Town 'n' Country.
The parade starts at 10 a.m. and goes on until 12 p.m. Saturday.
The parade has been held since 1993 and had to be canceled last year because of COVID-19. The all-volunteer staff coordinate with over 60 marching and rolling units to honor and salute the men and women that have served our country.
Below is the map of the parade's route. Hanley Street will be closed off beginning at 8:30 a.m.
The 2021 honoree for the Tampa Bay Veterans Parade is Emory Calvin Corey.
Corey was born on March 25, 1923, in Lowell, Massachusetts. He enlisted in the US Army in December 1941.
He was trained in Intelligence on a captured German Enigma machine, which was a secret messaging device kept secret by the British and American forces during WWII.
Corey was assigned to Eisenhower’s Headquarters in Europe, as a trained “cryptologist”. He served as a member of the 845th Signal Intelligence Service serving in Algiers, Tunisia, Sicily, and Rome, Italy.
While in Rome, he fell in love and married his wartime sweetheart at the end of the war. He transitioned into civilian life becoming a Magician. He then rose through the ranks of his profession, becoming President of the American Magicians Association and Office Holder of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.
Corey’s love for his profession has led him to continue performing magic shows into his 90’s.