St. Louis, MO - Thousands of people lined Market Street in downtown St. Louis Saturday for the Welcome Home Heroes Parade that honored troops who fought in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
St. Louis was the first city in the nation to host a big welcome home parade for Iraq veterans since the troops left Iraq in December.
The parade came as a result of a grassroots effort, but organizers faced a daunting task.
"It was the very first thing that we heard. We heard so many people tell us that putting a parade together in 30 days is impossible," said organizer Craig Schneider.
Schneider and co-organizer Tom Appelbaum proved those people wrong.
"They did a great job over there and I think it's about time that somebody recognized that," said Appelbaum.
The two took their idea to Facebook. Their page, "Make January 28th Welcome Home the Heroes from Iraq Day" was the catalyst that pushed the parade to reality.
The Welcome Home Heroes Parade included more than 80 floats, two marching bands and the Budweiser Clydesdales. The parade began at noon Saturday at Kiener Plaza and ended at Union Station with a Veterans Resource Center set-up inside.
People waived American flags and cheered "thank you" as veterans made their way down Market. People also held up Welcome Home signs. Firetrucks hoisted three huge American flags along the route for the participants to walk under.
The tribute began at 9:11 p.m. Friday when volunteers read the names of 6,502 men and women at Soldier's Memorial who died from injuries sustained in Iraq and Afghanistan. The reading lasted through Saturday morning.
The Mission Continues and the Welcome Home Foundation, two of the groups behind the parade, are now challenging all Americans to raise seven million dollars for veterans' groups. The catch - they want to do it in seven days.
"We are awed and inspired by the grassroots efforts of the Welcome Home Foundation that rallied nearly 100,000 Americans to show their support for our veterans at the parade," said Eric Greitens, CEO of The Mission Continues and former Navy SEAL. "Now, we are honored to partner with Welcome Home Foundation to challenge all Americans to make an investment in this generation of veterans."
A percent of the donations will be awarded to The Mission Continues, which challenges post-9/11 veterans to rebuild a sense of purpose through community service. The remaining donations will be distributed through the Welcome Home Foundation to support other veterans' organizations nationwide.
Click Here to donate or learn more.
Watch the attached video to hear from one of the organizers, Tom Applebaum, on where the group will go from here.
KSDK