Disneyland honors veterans in event featuring park cast members who served in military
ANAHEIM, Calif. (KABC) -- Disneyland has a tradition of doing a flag-retreat ceremony every day, but on Veterans Day this year, the proceedings looked a little different.
The ceremony featured about 150 park cast members who are veterans.
They paraded down Main Street greeting park guests along the way.
One of the veterans present was Nick Filippone.
"I graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1983, went to flight school, became an F-14 RIO (radar intercept officer), did that for a few years of active duty. I got out of the active-duty Navy and went into the reserves and spent 22 years in the reserves," Filippone said.
In 2004, veteran cast members who walked down Main Street were given a "thank you" art piece.
It has now become a tradition every year.
Filippone says he has helped gather all the art pieces from 2004.
"This year's piece of art was incredible because it was the first time we had a Marvel character," Fillipone said. "It's Captain America and it's fantastic, a really unique piece. But the collection of all of them from 2004 to 2022, to my mind is something that was really amazing. Now I have the ability to see them all."
The Walt Disney Co. is the parent company of ABC7.
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