MELBOURNE — Hundreds of people turned out Friday for Fourth of July parades in Brevard County, with holiday revelers lining up on New Haven Avenue in Melbourne to cheer the patriotic procession.
Elsewhere in the county, hundreds more congregated on Courtenay Parkway in Merritt Island waving flags and dressed in red, white and blue as Brevard County Sheriff’s Office deputies honored Vietnam War veteran and Medal of Honor recipient Melvin Morris. Morris was shot three times in 1969 after rescuing a fallen comrade near Chi Lang in Vietnam. In the process, he single-handedly destroyed an enemy force that had pinned down his battalion, the U.S. Army said.
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It wasn’t until 2014, after he’d retired to Cocoa, that Morris received the Medal of Honor for his heroism overseas. He served as the grand marshal of Friday’s Merritt Island parade.
Vietnam War veteran Melvin Morris, a recipient of the Medal of Honor, rides as the grand marshal of the Fourth of July parde on Merritt Island.
Merritt Island’s parade was organized by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office while Melbourne’s event was sponsored by the Space Coast Young Republicans.
The daytime parades preceded multiple fireworks shows and other events scheduled for the evening around the county. Those such as the “Symphony Under the Stars” and fireworks show in Cocoa Village and the Drone Light Show Spectacular in Cocoa Beach were expected to draw large crowds.
Jacqueline and Peter McCullough of Palm Bay brought their two children out to watch the Melbourne parade as it made its way down New Haven Avenue. They waved and cheered as a train of jeeps blasting patriotic tunes lumbered past.
Even as the morning sun grew more powerful, the family was unfazed by the heat.
“We’re just thankful it didn’t rain,” Jacqueline said. “It’s nice to get the day off to celebrate. Growing up, I never missed the Fourth of July, so it’s nice to share that with my family now.”
For U.S. Army veteran Andrew Farthing, the day was as much about duty as about festivity. “I will always celebrate America,” Farthing said. “No matter what’s going on in the world, this is our country, and we owe it to ourselves and our children to love her even when that’s difficult, or we’re not sure how to.”
Tyler Vazquez is the Brevard County Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-480-0854 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @tyler_vazquez
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Hundreds gather for July 4th parades in Melbourne, Merritt Island