Patriotic Spirits Soar in S.D. Gulf War Parade : Celebration: Event draws 250,000 spectators who cheer on 10,000 military personnel.

The city paid hommage to military veterans in grand style Saturday when it played host to a 16-block-long downtown parade that drew 250,000 onlookers--a record number that surpassed attendance at World War II victory celebrations.

In sunny, breezy weather, thousands of spectators flaunted banners, flags, yellow ribbons and other tokens in an outburst of patriotic fervor inspired by the end of the Persian Gulf War, designated Operation Desert Storm. Tanks, missiles, howitzers and other armaments rolled through downtown to thunderous ovations.

“It put a lump in my throat just seeing all those people,” said Marine Cpl. Richard Feddor of Chicago, 23, a parade participant who spent more than three months in the Gulf with the Camp Pendleton-based 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment.

Battalion troops, in full battle gear, received a rousing hero’s welcome as they marched up Broadway to a brass band playing “The Marine Hymn.”

“I felt really proud walking down that street,” said Marine Cpl. James Rodriguez, 24, of Massachusetts, also a Persian Gulf veteran. “I didn’t think there’d be that many people.”

Police reported no major incidents and only a handful of arrests during the parade, which began at 11 a.m. and lasted almost three hours. Shortly after it began, police escorted away a pair of protesters who carried a flag-draped coffin. Other protests were not evident.

The San Diego-based Coalition for Peace in the Middle East, which denounced the parade as a “glorification” of a war that cost an estimated 100,000 lives, mostly Iraqi conscripts, stayed away Saturday to avoid confrontations, organizers said. The activists have scheduled an anti-war vigil for next Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Embarcadero, across Harbor Drive from the County Administration Building.

Although Orange County played host to a similar parade on Saturday that drew about 200,000 and a Hollywood parade scheduled for today is expected to be even bigger, San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor, parade co-chair, called Saturday’s event “the West Coast’s premier” welcome-home for troops who served in the Persian Gulf.

The $100,000 cost of the parade, which took almost three months to plan, is being financed largely through private donations, officials said. Many spectators heeded warnings to take the trolley and other public transportation, thus averting massive traffic jams.

Yellow ribbons, which emerged during the war as a national symbol of solidarity with the troops in the Gulf, were strung along the approximately 1 1/2-mile route, thanks in part to 25 miles of the stuff donated by a ribbon company, authorities said.

Bands, marchers and military vehicles filing down Broadway passed beneath a giant yellow bow and a huge banner stating “United We Stand” that displayed a U.S. flag superimposed with the greeting, “Welcome Home!” A green Statue of Liberty float flanked the reviewer’s stand.

The San Diego area, long considered a “military town” because of its many defense installations, contributed more than 50,000 troops to the war. It constituted one of the largest such concentrations of any community nationwide--and almost one-tenth of all U.S. personnel who served in the multinational force deployed to the Gulf. Some three dozen ships based in San Diego were assigned there.

Saturday’s crowd was racially and socioeconomically diverse, reflecting in part the heterogenous makeup of the armed forces. Loud exclamations of patriotism were the rule; some onlookers displayed crude signs or T-shirts deriding Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the U.S. archenemy in the war.

But the overall tone was more celebratory than accusatory, perhaps underlining the national sense of relief that the war was short-lived, U.S. casualties were limited and the military was up to the task.

Asked why they came, more than one person replied, “I wanted to show my support for our troops.”

While the San Diego extravaganza was clearly tied to the Gulf War, organizers pointedly included veterans of many conflicts--World Wars I and II, the Korean and Vietnam wars--to deliberately coincide with Armed Forces Day. Vietnam-era U.S. combatants received particularly warm welcomes during the parade, clearly providing for many a sense of catharsis for a disturbing chapter of U.S. history.

“I was glad to see our Vietnam brothers finally getting acceptance,” said Marine Cpl. Feddor in a sentiment echoed by others.

The parade deliberately excluded public officials and other nonmilitary dignitaries riding in vehicles; there were no clowns.

In all, some 10,000 military personnel participated, including former prisoners of war, survivors of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and former U.S. servicemen who participated in the Bataan Death March in the Philippines during World War II.

An emcee dutifully provided exhaustive and laudatory descriptions of the passing cavalcade over a public address system, with one exception: A group of gay and lesbian veterans holding a banner calling on the Pentagon to end its ban on homosexuals passed by unannounced.

Interspersed with the veterans and military personnel were brass bands, cheerleaders, floats and an imposing procession of military hardware: massive 60-ton M-60A1 tanks; amphibious assault craft; dune-buggy-like fast-attack vehicles; a 50-foot-long mini-submarine mounted on a truck; howitzers, machine guns, mortars and TOW missile launchers; the frame of an Apache Attack helicopter, made in San Diego; patrol boats; motorized rafts; likenesses of an aircraft carrier and an 18th-Century brigantine; and a replica of the Tomahawk Cruise Missile, billed as “San Diego’s Own” (it is built in the General Dynamics Convair division here). About 300 of the Tomahawks, each delivering a 1,000-pound payload, were used during the war.

“Thank you, armed forces!” the announcer read as the cruise missile float passed by with General Dynamics workers aboard waving to the crowd.

The parade’s total municipal costs, including police overtime payments, will be calculated this week, said Carolyn Wormser, the city’s special events coordinator. She said donations should cover most expenses. Saturday’s attendance topped the 200,000 present at the parade celebrating the end of World War II, officials said.

“This was fabulous,” Wormser said after the celebrations finished. “It was just what we were looking for.”

Others shared the sentiment.

“It was a real good parade,” said Sandra Lipscomb of San Diego, who held a bouquet of balloons in her hands as cleaning crews began restoring normalcy to the downtown area.

Times staff writer Tony Perry contributed to this story.