More than 400 Army National Guardsmen from the 42nd Infantry Division will be taking part in the Army’s 250th anniversary parade on Saturday.
The division includes soldiers from Syracuse, Utica, Buffalo, and the Hudson Valley, among other locations.
Sgt. 1st Class Trevor Cullen said the soldiers are excited to be involved in such a large event.
"Our job is to protect this great country, but we are also in our local communities, and we get to bring that local community aspect down here to the District of Columbia,” he said. “We really get to showcase what we do best."
Different marching units in the parade will represent different time periods in the Army’s history. The 42nd Infantry Division will represent World War I, when the division was created.
"The reason we're called the 'Rainbow Division' is because we stretched like a rainbow across the U.S. because we were pulling all of these different units in order to support World War I," said Cullen.
And the service members in the division wear a patch with half of a rainbow in honor of those who were lost in that war.
Cullen said it’s just one way to honor the service of the many soldiers who have fought in the past.
"The United States Army, over its entire 250 years, has stood to protect and defend this nation, and we are honored and privileged that we get to be a part of that," he said.
About 100 soldiers from Fort Drum will also take part in this weekend’s festivities.
