It marked the return of the entire battalion to the front lines of the parade, following their deployment to the Horn of Africa last year. The parade also marked the first and last Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations on the streets of New York for some of the Fighting 69th Soldiers. Master Sgt. Robert Walsh, an infantryman assigned to the 69th’s Delta Company, joined the unit in the late 1990s. He estimated he’s marched in 25 parades. After 38 years of military service, Walsh is retiring, making this year’s parade his last.
U.S. soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen march from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde in Paris, July 12, 2017, during a rehearsal for the Bastille Day military parade. The United States led the parade to commemorate the centennial of U.S. entry into World War I and the longstanding partnership between the United States and France. For the 173rd year in a row, Soldiers of the New York Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, “Fighting 69th” Infantry Regiment, marched at the head of New York City’s Saint Patrick’s Day Parade — the largest in the world.
