The City of Gainesville, 60 miles north of Fort Worth in Cooke County, will host nine Medal of Honor recipients starting Wednesday. Gainesville launched the "Medal of Honor Host City Program" in 2001. Since then, the city says 56 of 66 living recipients have attended.
This year's group will land at DFW Airport and are expected to leave between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. A motorcade including veterans groups and police will escort the veterans' bus to Gainesville.
Each year, people line freeways and stand on overpasses waving flags and signs in support of the recipients.
The motorcade is expected to arrive in Gainesville between 5 and 5:30 p.m. Moore says a public event will take place when they arrive at Tractor Bob's, which is moving into the former Gainesville Outlet Mall.
"Come out, stand on the bridge to welcome them. We welcome you," says Gainesville Mayor Tommy Moore. "That'll be an open, public event, so we welcome anybody to come out there."
During the trip, recipients will talk with students and meet with community groups. Organizers say the event also gives recipients and their families from different parts of the country a chance to get to know each other and talk about their backgrounds.
Thursday, the Medal of Honor Host City Program will hold its Patriot Dinner. Tickets are $15 per person. Details for the dinner are available here.
One of the biggest events will be a banquet Friday at the Gainesville Civic Center.
Saturday, Gainesville's annual parade starts at 10 a.m. The official parade route can be found here. Following the parade, a book signing will take place from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at the civic center.
Gainesville is the only city in America to host an organized event for Medal of Honor recipients. In 2012, Gainesville was voted the most patriotic town in America in a survey by Rand McNally.
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