PORTLAND – About 150 marchers and spectators gathered in front of City Hall for a ceremony honoring veterans this morning.

The event followed a parade on Congress Street from Longfellow Square, with veterans’ groups, military units and a police honor guard marching on a grey, chilly morning.

Among those watching was Edward Libby of Scarborough, who wore a USMC baseball cap. Libby said he’s attended every Portland Veterans Day parade since he got out of the Marine Corps in 1969 after three years of service.

“I loved the Marine Corps. It was a great experience,” said Libby, 69, who spent six months in Vietnam dropping propaganda leaflets from a helicopter. “I liked the discipline, the camaraderie.”

Libby said he marched in the parade a few times with the local chapter of the Marine Corps League, but now he prefers to be a spectator.

Hundreds lined the parade route, including office workers who didn’t have the holiday off. The parade included military vehicles and a large tractor-trailer from Oakhurst Dairy, a sponsor of the Wreaths Across America program, which will place thousands of wreaths in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia next month.

At the ceremony, former state representative and keynote speaker Herb Adams urged listeners to keep alive the memories of those who fought in the nation’s wars.

“Shake the hands and hear the stories” of veterans, Adams said, “and pass them along.”

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