immortal regiment marches usa
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The Immortal Regiment Commemorative marches, marking the 73th anniversary of the end of the World War II, began in the United States.

The first marches of people holding the portraits of their relatives who had fought in the war were held on Saturday on the East Coast.

The marches will be held in more than 20 US cities this year. The largest event is in New York, where it has now been held for four years in a row.

Over 1,000 people came to the Hudson River with portraits of their relatives.

"More people are coming every year. Last year, we had up to 1,500 people. We are counting people by the amount of signs with photos that we help to print, and white balloons. Last year, we prepared 1,500 white balloons and gave them all away. This year, we took 2,000 [balloons] and prepared 400 more new signs," Igor Kochan, a representative of the organization "Russian Youth in America" told Sputnik.


The participants walked up to the Battery Park memorial to the soldiers who died in the World War II.

The marches are usually held on last Saturday before May 9, when the Victory Day is celebrated in Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union.

On Saturday, the marches are held in Boston, Denver, New York, Phoenix, Washington. On Sunday, there will be marches in Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Tallahassee. A march in Miami will take place on Wednesday.


Comment: The march was held in Colorado as well. From Tass we learn what's partially intended by the gathering:
About 200 people took part in the Immortal Regiment march in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday to remember relatives who took part in World War Two, organizer Tahir Minullin told TASS.

"This has been a third such march in Colorado. About 350 people participated last year, while today 150 to 200 have got together," he said. He said weather is changeable ahead of May 9 in the city, "with either rain or snow, which is why many people, especially elderly, have failed to come".

The procession marched about 1.5 kilometers, including around the Capitol Building. The route ran so that there was no need to restrict traffic flows or ask police to ensure security during the march.

"On Sunday, we will have a traditional picnic devoted to May 9," Mintullin said.

The organizers of the Immortal Regiment procession in Denver are trying to involve as many Americans as possible "to have our relations better here," he added. "We bring here Americans from different places. One female American, for example, said she wanted to take part in the action wearing her father's Navy uniform," he said, adding that people had come from Boulder, Colorado Springs and other big cities of Colorado.

[...]

The 'Immortal Regiment' march is an annual event held throughout Russia and in other countries. The event is dedicated to the victory in Great Patriotic War (part of WWII) that claimed lives of about 28 million Soviet people, both soldiers and civilians. During the march, people carry portraits of their relatives who fought or died during the war. For the first time the event was held in 2007 in the city of Tyumen, then it was called Victory Parade. The name Immortal Regiment appeared in 2012 when a similar rally was held in Tomsk. Since 2015 the 'Immortal Regiment' march has become nationwide.
So the marchers want the US to have a better relationship with Russia as well as bring awareness to the massive sacrifice of the Russian people in their efforts to stop the Nazis during WWII. What could be bad about that?

And in related news, the Immortal Regiment Commemorative march has taken on something of an international effort:
The first Immortal Regiment march in Antarctica will take place ahead of Victory Day at the Novolazarevskaya station of the 63rd Russian Antarctic Expedition, one of the march organizers, station surgeon Mikhail Vorontsov, told TASS.

"We've been taking part in the Immortal Regiment in St. Petersburg each year since the launch of this movement. This time, as Victory Day falls on the wintering, we thought why not the sixth continent, as long as the Immortal Regiment is marching across the whole planet? Such events have never been held here before, and ours will be the first one. The station head, Yury Nezderov, approved our proposal," Vorontsov said.

The winterers prepared placards with photos of their relatives who fought in the Great Patriotic War beforehand. Thirty-two people are working at the Novolazarevskaya station, and all of them will take part in a short-distance march from the station's entrance gates to its unofficial symbol - a large round shield with the station's name and a map of the sixth continent on it.

A group of scientists from India's Maitri station located nearby will also come to Novolazarevskaya. Indian and Russian polar scientists will attend a festive dinner and watch fireworks in the evening.

The Russian Antarctic Expedition is an ongoing expedition of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. Five permanent Russian stations are operating on the sixth continent: Progress, Novolazarevskaya, Vostok, Mirny and Bellingshausen. Winterers spend about a year in Antarctica, while seasonal groups work there in summer.

The Immortal Regiment

The Immortal Regiment movement was first launched in Tyumen in 2007 and was initially called "Victors' Parade." It acquired its current name in 2012 in Tomsk, and in 2013 it involved 120 cities. In 2014, residents from about 500 cities in seven countries crowded streets carrying portraits of their relatives who fought in World War II (the Great Patriotic War). The movement officially became nationwide in 2015. According to the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, 96% of Russian citizens - a lot of young people among them - like the idea of the Immortal Regiment. The Immortal Regiment is taking place in many countries now.
See also: Glory to the Heroes: Hundreds of Thousands March Through Moscow in Memory of 'Immortal Regiment'