DEARBORN, Mich. — Watching the city's annual Memorial Day parade Monday meant a lot of different things to Steven Hernandez, his wife, Eftikhar, and their two youngest children.

For one thing, it meant seeing oldest son, Bilal, march with his middle school band one last time before he moves on to high school next fall. For another, it meant honoring the lives of family and others who served in America's military.

"I have family on my mother's side who served in the Marines, and I think about that on days like today," said Hernandez, 43, of Dearborn.

Eftikhar Saleh-Hernandez, his wife, and a Dearborn high school teacher, said she also came to the parade to support her students. Their sons, Hemza, 11, and Omar, 8, were seated with them on campus chairs on the north side of Michigan Avenue near Woodworth Street.

The couple and their family were among the hundreds who turned out for the city's annual Memorial Day Parade and Remembrance Ceremony, and the thousands commemorating the nation's fallen servicemen on the holiday.

Communities across Michigan and the Metro Detroit area, including Ferndale, Northville, Novi and Sterling Heights, marked the holiday with parades, while others, such as Birmingham, Rochester, and Troy, held special ceremonies to honor America's fallen soldiers.

By 10 a.m. when the parade began, the skies were sunny and the temperature had reached about 61 degrees. It was expected to reach a high of 72 degrees. The parade ended by about 11 a.m.

Carrie Barretto, 44, of Livonia was also sitting on a campus chair and joined her family on the north side of Michigan near Woodworth to watch Dearborn's parade.

"I grew up coming to this parade and being in it as a marching band student, but it's been a while," she said.

Like Hernandez, she said the day is a time to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the country. "It means spending the day honoring those people with family," she said.

Barretto said she also wanted to come to the parade because her brother, Ian Kushnir, was playing bagpipes in the procession.

Dressed in full Scottish regalia, he walked ahead of a horse-drawn carriage that had a coffin with an American flag draped over it, symbolizing fallen American soldiers.

Dearborn city officials said the event, now in its 99th year, is the oldest continuously run Memorial Day Parade in Michigan and one of the largest of its kind in the United States.

The event is being hosted by the city and the Dearborn Allied War Veterans Council. More than 90 military and community groups, marching bands, and elected officials participated.

It also pays special tribute to military and law enforcement K-9 officers. Army veteran and Infantry K-9 Handler, Michael Stanton, and Air Force veteran, Michigan State Police trooper, and K-9 handler, Joshua Olszewski, served as the parade's grand marshals.

Stanton, a 1969 Dearborn High School graduate, became a certified registered nurse after serving in the Army. He continues to speak as an advocate for the nursing profession and volunteers at the Michigan War Dog Memorial. He has also adopted two retired veteran dogs who served as explosive detection specialists.

Olszewski is a state police canine handler. He and his partner Kai, a German Shepherd, have had 64 successful tracks and 136 successful narcotics searches since 2021.

News caster Lloyd Jackson from WJR-AM (760) emceed the parade.

Officials said they didn't have exact numbers for how many attended the event on the holiday, but estimated it's in the hundreds.

The parade this year returned to its original route along Michigan Avenue and headed west from Schaefer Road in East Dearborn to the Dearborn Veterans Park and War Memorial. Last year, the procession traveled on Michigan Avenue, but on the city's west side.

Established in 1868 as Decoration Day, the holiday honors those who died in service to the United States. Originally, the day was meant to pay tribute to Union and Confederate soldiers, but was expanded after World War I to include all servicemen and women who died in combat. The U.S. government proclaimed Memorial Day a federal holiday in 1971.

Abir Makled, 36, of Dearborn and her three children, Hassan, 4, Zaynab, 8, and Mohamad, 12, found a spot on the parade route near where her husband and the kids' father, Rachid Farhat, a Dearborn police officer, was posted.

"We come to the parade every year," Markled said. "We're just thankful for all those who have served and continue to serve."

She said she and her family would probably go to the park later in the day, barbecue, and spend time together.

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