This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Feb. 10, 2012 - St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, a Democrat, joined MSNBC talk-show host Rachel Maddow on Thursday to highlight the region's recent parade honoring veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.
The cable TV segment included video of the Jan. 28 event, which featured 20,000 participants and attracted 100,000 spectators. St. Louis has been garnering lots of national attention for the parade, which is the first -- and so far, only, -- parade in a major city to honor the nation's most recent military veterans.
Dooley, a Vietnam veteran himself, praised the event -- as did Maddow, who had been lauding the parade even before it was held.
