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Parade, Patrol, Pilot

 




You are invited to attend today’s Veterans Day Parade and Celebration beginning at nine thirty am. 

From the Howard County Veterans Foundation:

The Howard County Veterans Day Parade & Celebration plays an important role in building respect and recognition for the more than 20,0000 local Veterans and their families. Thanks to the incredible support of our community, we have hosted over ten successful parades and ceremonies to honor these heroes.

The Grand Marshal of this year’s parade is Elza K. Redman.

We are pleased to announce Elza K. Redman Jr. has been nominated grand marshal of the 2025 Howard County Veterans Day Parade. The Howard County Veterans Foundation bestows the grand marshal title on individuals who represent the values and morals of the Howard County community of Veterans and military families. This year, we honor “Veterans forming future leaders” who show a passion for education, mentorship and coaching.

You can learn more about Redman here at the Veterans Foundation website.

A few things I learned about Major Redman while poking around the internet:

He presented to a meeting of the Civil Air Patrol Maryland Wing in 2024 on the topic of radio communications.



He was interviewed by the Civil Air Patrol in 2009 as a part of an Oral History project.



 
Redman’s entire family was the focus of an article in the Baltimore Sun in 2007.


The Civil Air Patrol is an auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force — a nonprofit organization with more than 60,000 members across the nation, according to a news release. CAP volunteers perform 95 percent of continental United States inland search and rescue missions. In Maryland, approximately 1,300 members answer the call of federal, state and local agencies in the areas of homeland security, disaster relief and counter-drug activities.

Married for 18 years, the Taylors, who live in Dayton, have made answering the call a family credo. Three generations of the family are involved in the Howard Composite Squadron of the Maryland Wing of the Civil Air Patrol.

Maj. Elza Redman, 69, is commander of the Howard Composite Squadron. His wife, Charlotte, 67, is a first lieutenant and the testing and finance officer.

I really hadn’t known all that much about the Civil Air Patrol so hats off to Major Redman and the Howard County Veterans Foundation for providing me with an opportunity to learn. Curious? Here’s the history of how the Civil Air Patrol came into existence. 

Finally, the information you’ve been waiting for. The parade route.





Just for fun, here’s a tidbit from a 2014 article on Columbia Patch. (“Civil Air Patrol Howard Composite Squadron hosts Open House” by SM Elizabeth Dunster, CAP, Assistant Public Affairs Officer, 
Neighbor)

Light refreshments were provided by the squadron, including 1st Lt. McCormick’s specially decorated Civil Air Patrol cookies.  

In case you are dubious that Civil Air Patrol cookies are a thing - - Pinterest says they are.



Civil Air Patrol Cookies, Pinterest




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