20,000 expected for Palm Springs Veterans Day Parade

For the 23rd year in a row, veterans are invited to march through downtown Palm Springs in the Palm Springs Veterans Day Parade.

Up to 20,000 people are expected, city officials said.

The parade is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. on Palm Canyon Drive at Ramon Road and heads north, ending at Alejo Road. After the parade, the Palm Springs High School Spirit of the Sands Band will perform a patriotic concert on the corner of Palm Canyon and Amado Road, followed by a fireworks display.

The parade will include Dorothee Irwin, a World War II veteran, riding with her son Jim, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel who later taught and coached at Palm Springs High School, his alma mater.

Veterans from the Korean War and Vietnam War will march at the rear of the parade procession -- a symbolic reminder that no American veteran will ever be forgotten or abandoned.