DETROIT — Roughly 90 veterans groups, marching bands and community groups walked, waved and rode through Dearborn Monday for the city's 100th Memorial Day parade — the longest-running Memorial Day parade in Michigan.

Dearborn resident and U.S. Army veteran Chuck Netzel, 84, has been to more than half of those celebrations.

"It means a lot to me to see alive veterans," said Netzel, who served from 1962-65 during the Cold War. "We've lost so many through the years; we forget how many we've lost."

Dearborn celebrated its Memorial Day centennial with special tributes to the 347 service members from the community who have since died. Photos of the fallen were displayed on street-pole banners along the parade route, and residents put up yard signs with QR codes to a website with their biographies.

"The 2026 Memorial Day Parade marks a historic and meaningful milestone for the City of Dearborn as we pay tribute to the bravery and sacrifice of all fallen service members, including the 347 individuals from our hometown who lost their lives in the line of duty," Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud said in a statement. "We gather as one community to ensure that Dearborn always remembers."

Hundreds lined the sidewalks and curbs along Michigan Avenue to see marching band performances, first responders from the area and vintage cars.

Netzel (which he quipped is pronounced like "pretzel") wore a U.S. Army veteran cap and an American Legion T-shirt as he sat and greeted friends walking in the parade, including a dog he knew by name who answered with a happy tail wag.

Netzel said the parade is more social and less military-focused compared to his first time coming in 1974, shortly after he first moved to neighboring Dearborn Heights. Back then, he said the parade featured Army tanks, trucks and military bands.

"The younger people need to see what we have and what we do," he said. "Without seeing it, it's very difficult to explain to them what we do."

He's seen treatment of veterans change over time, too. Netzel said he knew service members returning from the Vietnam War who wore civilian clothing to the airport to avoid being spit on and chastised.

"You don't see it anymore," he said.

During a visit to Chicago last week, Netzel said a "little guy" who looked younger than 10 years old thanked him for his service. He said now, he feels respected by the community.

A different Dearborn

"Is that a real princess?" Mariam Zandani, 7, asked her mother as Miss Wayne County, dressed in a lavender hijab and a sparkling powder-blue ballgown, waved from a red convertible.

"She wears a hijab, and she's a Muslim woman," her mother, Samantha Zandani said. "And it's so amazing to see her represent our community, because I feel like that's what Dearborn is."

Samantha Zandani has been coming to Dearborn's parade since she was a child and lived blocks away from the parade route. The 32-year-old watched with her father and four children, who had collected fistfuls of candy by the parade's end.

"I used to sit here when I was little," said Samantha Zandani, gesturing to the curb where her children were standing. "It's such a good feeling to come and reminisce."

She's seen changes in the parade, too, including what she described as more diversity in participants.

At this year's parade, Korean cultural association members played traditional percussion instruments in colorful clothing, for example. Marching band and color guard members wore a wide range of uniforms from black hijabs to red velvet dresses.

Samantha Zandani said she saw "more Muslim women and Muslim men representing and being part of bands and just fitting into every part of the community" through the parade.

"I just love it," she said.

©2026 www.detroitnews.com. Visit at detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.