BULLARD, Texas — On Saturday, dozens of cars parked along Highway 69 in Bullard to honor America's veterans with an auto show.
The ceremonies kicked off with the hoisting of a large American above the road for the veterans to drive under as they made their way to the event. Then a Huey Helicopter flew over the road and landed in the field, surprising many of the people attending the show.
After the Bullard High School Band played a rendition of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA," the Patriot Guard led the parade mounted on their motorcycles. Afterwards, the stars of the show paraded down the highway, a long caravan of various military vehicles carrying veterans from each branch who served in both wartime and in peace.
During the parade, the U.S. Marine Corps presented an American flag and carried out a 21-gun salute to those who answered their country's call to serve. Afterward, the crowd gazed upon the flag as the National Anthem was played.
The parade also featured paratroopers flying into the field.
Among those attended was U.S. Army SGM Robert Patterson, a career soldier who served in both Vietnam and the Persian Gulf War.
"I enjoy them, I do a lot of them every year," Patterson said of the event. "I haven't got to do very many this year. I normally make two or three trips a month going out doing things like this."
When he arrived in Vietnam, like the tens of thousands of men he served alongside, Patterson was a normal American. However, during a particularly heated battle, he would distinguish himself as a heroic soldier.
"I don't remember the action, I've got a blank spot," Patterson explained. "We weren't supposed to make any contact, but we ended up finding ourselves in the middle of a reinforced NVA battalion. I remember climbing up on the [...] shooting into the bunker, stopped the guy from shooting at the platoon sergeant and then everything went blank after they. They said I just grabbed my M-16 and a bunch of grenades, ran up into a bunker complex, knocked out a machine gun bunker, RPG bunker, killed seven and captured eight."
For his actions, Patterson received the country's highest award: The Medal of Honor. You see our full interview with SGM Patterson below: