Cullman County is home to more than 7,000 living military veterans, and no matter where they might be on Saturday, Nov. 2, they’ll each be warmly honored at this year’s commemorative Cullman Veterans Day Celebration — a free public festival held annually on the grounds of the Cullman Regional Airport.

Staged as a no-charge event by the Cullman Elks and members of the local VFW Post 2214, the daylong slate of food, wartime re-enactments, aircraft displays, skydiving, military memorabilia and even helicopter rides all is set to unfold on Saturday, Nov. 2 from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.

There’s no cost for parking or admission — only for food from any of the vendors who’ll be serving on site, or for an in-the-air flight tour aboard the Vietnam-era Huey helicopter and T-6 Texan pilot training plane from the WWII period that each will be flying in for the celebration.

This year’s Veterans Day event will serve up a variety of ways for families and kids to get up close with the military machinery, both large and small, that has aided the American cause all across the nation’s history. A flight demonstration team will stage a smoke-filled demonstration above the airfield, while a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker operated by the Sumpter Smith Air National Guard Base out of Birmingham will perform low-level flyovers. Members of Skydive Alabama also will perform a “jump-in” dive into the venue.

On the ground, this year’s celebration will feature photo opportunities inside the tandem cockpit of a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II supersonic jet, whose fuselage is being transported by ground for the event all the way from upstate New York. “I’m kind of interested in climbing into the back seat again and getting my picture made!” joked Vietnam veteran and U.S. Air Force Col. (ret.) Ken Brown, who alongside members of Cullman’s VFW Post 2214 and the Cullman Elks Lodge 1609 are organizing the event.

Brown explained that the annual celebration is a family-friendly way to entice everyone to say “thank you” to the living local veterans who’ve sacrificed much for their country. “We’ve got so many veterans in Cullman County, and a lot of these younger people have been on three, four, maybe even five combat tours,” he said. “For many, we’ve got a PTSD problem that we’re trying to help them address. We need to take care of them when they come home, and part of that is to show them how much we do appreciate them. That’s what the Veterans Day celebration at the airport is all about.”

Veterans themselves (along with their significant others) will be treated to free food for the day, enjoying a noon meal after snacking on morning coffee and donuts inside the airport’s terminal lounge. Members of the Cullman Historical Society will present hourly programs inside he terminal building, each featuring a pair of period-attired re-enactors portraying a Cullman County veteran who was killed in action during WWII as well as Rosie the Riveter. Cullman Rotary president Paul Knetter also will be in Marine-appropriate attire in the role of Pappy Boyington, the U.S. Marine Corps Major whose fighting-ace exploits during WWII became the basis for TV’s Baa Baa Black Sheep.

For more information on this year’s Veterans Day celebration, visit the event’s website at cullmanveteransday.com. The festivities fall one week before the formal nationwide commemoration of Veterans Day, which occurs each year on Nov. 11.