Former POW to Serve as Dallas Veterans Day Parade Grand Marshal

DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF) – Final preparations are being made for this years Dallas Veterans Day Parade.

Organizers said Friday that the parade will commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the end of WW I. The parade will also honor retired Air Force Colonel Ken Cordier as grand marshal.

Col. Cordier is a long-time volunteer of the Greater Dallas Veterans Parade and a long-time board member of the Greater Dallas Veterans Foundation. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1960 to 1985. From December 2, 1966 to March 4, 1973, Col. Cordier was held as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam after being shot down in his F-4C Phantom. After his release, he went back to flight duty. Col. Cordier re-qualified to fly jet aircraft and resumed his Air Force career. He was assigned to Holloman AFB, where he again flew Phantoms, as a Flight Commander and then Operations Officer. In 1976, Col. Cordier was assigned to USAFE Headquarters at Ramstein AB, Germany, where he was chief of the War Plans Division. He became Deputy Commander for Operations at Sembach AB, Germany in 1979, and in 1981 as Base Commander, was assigned to plan and execute the reactivation of Wiesbaden Air Base. Col. Cordier culminated his Air Force career as Air Attaché to the United Kingdom.

“Our country owes a lot to those willing to fight and risk their lives if necessary,” Col. Cordier said. “And once a year to focus on that is good for everyone.”

This year’s parade is scheduled for November 12 in downtown Dallas.