CAPE MAY, N.J. — U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May held a Sunset Parade today at the Training Center to recognize the Coast Guard’s 229th birthday and to honor the Jersey Cape Military Spouses Club and local community organizations.
Sunset Parades are military displays of marching troops and the Coast Guard Recruit Ceremonial Drill Team. More than 350 recruits marched in the parade and struck the National Ensign from the parade field at sunset.
The last sunset parade of the season at the Training Center is scheduled for Sept. 1, in honor of Cape May County, and the holiday to honor the workforce of the United States of America, Labor Day. If guests arrive at the base early, they can visit the multiple memorials typically not open to the public. Those memorials include a statue in honor of the Coast Guard’s only Medal of Honor recipient and WWII hero, Signalman First Class Douglas Munro, the Coast Guard Enlisted Memorial, the only all-encompassing memorial for service members who lost their life in the line of duty, and a 44-foot Motor Life Boat that was used to save lives along America’s coastline.
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