photo credit: Mike Harris
Coast Guard members marching in the 2024 parade.

Coast Guard members from the Petaluma training base are normally a prominent part of the popular Veterans Day Parade, but thanks to the shutdown, Coast Guard members can't participate this year in an official capacity.

Joe Noriel is the parade's organizer. He said it's never happened before.

“Which is a little earth shattering for our parade since we historically feature the Coast Guard and they're responsible for logistics,” Noriel told KRCB News. “So it really caught all of us by surprise.”

Noriel said, in spite of the shutdown, Coast Guard members won't be totally absent...

“If there is some beauty in this story, it's that the relationship between the United States Coast Guard base in Petaluma and the community of Petaluma is extremely tight,” Noriel said. “And you know, recently we were designated a Coast Guard city. So when the cadets heard that they couldn't participate officially in the parade, they offered to volunteer to help out. They'll be in civilian clothes, but nevertheless, they'll be a critical part of the parade.”

Normal operations at the Petaluma Training Center have been at a standstill as well...

“The effects of the shutdown are certainly far reaching in the Coast Guard community,” Noriel said. “And prior to this we had participated in a lot of food drives…we got a turkey dropoff…so the [shutdown] certainly is affecting the base quite a bit, so anyone who wants to direct any efforts towards that would be greatly appreciated.”

Petaluma's Veterans Day Parade will still go ahead as planned, even without the Coast Guard participation

Noriel says they'll have a different group of vets leading the parade this time

“We're definitely gonna miss the Coast Guard leading the parade, but their shoes will be filled with a couple of World War II veterans,” Noriel said. “One of them fought in Omaha Beach, the other one over in the African Theater, and it's easy to reflect on stateside [during WWII] how everybody was on the same page and it was a consolidated effort and it's unfortunate how fractured our government is now.”

Petaluma’s Veterans Day Parade & Flyover starts at 1pm Tuesday, Nov. 11, in downtown Petaluma.