Linn County has long claimed to host the “largest Veterans Day parade west of the Mississippi,” and the third largest Veterans Day parade in the country.

They might be right.

On Tuesday the 74th annual Linn County Veterans Day Parade rolled through downtown Albany. Christine Ferguson, president of the Linn County Veterans Day Parade organization, said last year’s parade drew an estimated 45,000 people.

This year’s crowd, on a rare dry November day, was larger.

One other Veterans Day parade claims to be the West Coast’s largest. It’s in San Diego, whose county is home to roughly 115,000 active-duty service members, most in the Navy and Marines.

Considering that the entire population of Linn County is just one-tenth of the population of the city of San Diego, it’s possible the Califor

See Full Page