Pocatello VFW Post 735 member Chester Avery initiated the mission to bring back the Gate City Veterans Day parade which was last held in Pocatello in the 1940s, Hollingsworth said.

In addition to the parade scheduled for Nov. 12, there will be a dinner at Idaho State University on Veterans Day that will benefit a recently established AMVETS Bengal Post 1901 James E. Johnson college scholarship endowment.

“We have the James E. Johnson endowment set up and ready to kick out scholarships but we really want to be able to find a way to fund it in its perpetuity,” said local veteran Lance Kolbet of University Financial Group. “To do so, we have Blue Cross of Idaho and my company, University Financial Group, sponsoring a dinner at the Stephens Performing Arts Center on Nov. 11.”

Kolbet said Shane Hunt, dean of the ISU College of Business, donated the use of the Stephens center for the dinner and Blue Cross of Idaho has about 40 employees between Idaho Falls and Pocatello who will be helping to run the event.

Johnson, a member of the U.S. Marine Corps who served in the Korean War, is the only Pocatello resident to have received the Medal of Honor. Johnson was posthumously awarded the nation’s highest decoration for his heroic lone fight on Dec. 2, 1950, to cover the withdrawal of his platoon during the bitter Chosin Reservoir campaign in Korea, according to the Marine Corps University website. When last seen by his comrades, he was wounded but still engaging the enemy in close grenade and hand-to-hand combat. He was listed as missing in action until January 1954 when his status was officially changed to “presumed dead.”

Kolbet said he has many plans in store for the dinner and the group is hoping to bring on former Idaho governors Dirk Kempthorne, a member of the USS Idaho submarine commissioning committee, and C.L. “Butch” Otter, a spokesperson for the Medicare program of Blue Cross of Idaho, to participate in the event.

“The reasoning of bringing Kempthorne on board is because there is a new Virginia class submarine that is going to be launched and christened in April 2023,” Kolbet said. “Kempthorne is the spokesperson for the USS Idaho commissioning committee. So in terms of having a speaker we are hoping to have Kempthorne on board and the timing should be good because we’ll have the Veterans Day dinner for James E. Johnson on Nov. 11, but it will be only a few months later that we’ll be actually launching the USS Idaho submarine.”

Additionally, Kolbet said the group is considering creating some challenge coins, which are coins popular in military and law enforcement circles that individuals typically collect and trade, that will be available for purchase with proceeds benefiting the James E. Johnson scholarship endowment.

Kolbet said the city of Pocatello used to honor Johnson with a day dedicated to him, but over the years his name and military service have somewhat faded from public memory.

“I figured if we create an endowment then there’ll never be a time where this veteran is forgotten,” Kolbet said. “He will live on forever because we will have an endowment named after him.”

Lastly, Kolbet said he is connected to a veterans troop out of Utah that puts on 1940s-type shows with pinup girls and big band music. He would like to get the group to perform at the Elks Lodge in Pocatello and invite residents of the Idaho State Veterans Home to enjoy a free dinner and a show that is reminiscent of the experiences they may have enjoyed when they were younger.

Regarding the parade, the route through Pocatello is still being determined but the event will start at 10:45 a.m. Nov. 12.

Hollingsworth said he’s still looking for sponsors for the parade. Anyone interested should email him at vfwccpost735@gmail.com.

All of the military branches have been contacted to participate in the parade and all have agreed to take part so far except for the Navy.

Hollingsworth is hoping to arrange fly overs by A-10 attack aircraft and Black Hawk helicopters during the parade. The U.S. Army has agreed to have a strong presence at the event and plans to bring several armored vehicles upon final approval.

All veteran services organizations will be notified and invited to participate in the parade, Hollingsworth added.

Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad appointed Hollingsworth to be the chairman of the committee to bring back the Veterans Day parade. Hollingsworth plans to contact Idaho State University and local high schools to see about getting their marching bands to participate as well.

A parade marshal will be named for each military branch, and Hollingsworth is hoping local classic car clubs will provide transportation for the marshals during the parade.

He’ll also be inviting all the surrounding cities to participate in the parade.

Both the scholarship endowment and the parade should be major successes, said Kolbet, adding that the reason for working to make both of these events a reality really goes back to the large number of veterans Bannock County has produced over the decades.

“In talking with Bannock County Veteran Services Coordinator Melissa Hartman, I recently learned that per capita Bannock County has the highest number of veterans in the state with about 8,400 veterans,” Kolbet said. “Our population is very saturated with veterans and also very pro-veteran and military. On top of that, ISU was recently ranked as the No. 4 most veteran-friendly university in the country. It would be nice to see ISU take that No. 1 spot.”

Much work remains to ensure both the scholarship endowment and parade come to fruition and Kolbet said a planning committee is going to regularly meet until November rolls around to ensure success. Until then, Kolbet said he’s going to do his best to contain his excitement.

“These two events are going to be huge for the community,” Kolbet said. “To say I am excited would be an understatement and I can’t wait to see how many people come out to show their support of our local veterans.”