The Cumberland County Veterans Council’s 30th annual parade returns Nov. 7, with parade director Dr. Toshiba Narcisse helping carry forward a tradition rooted in service, family and community.
“It’s like a family reunion for all of us,” Dr. Toshiba Narcisse said of Fayetteville’s Veterans Day Parade.
At a family reunion, people reconnect through old memories, catch up on what has changed and share a bond that does not need much explaining. Narcisse sees that same kind of connection when veterans gather for the parade. They recognize familiar faces, catch up and trade stories with people who understand something about their lives and service.
For Narcisse, the parade is about veterans recognizing the impact of other veterans. It gives them a public place to honor one another’s service and reconnect with people who share that experience. Families, students, organizations and neighbors are part of the gathering, too, showing veterans that their service matters to the community around them.
The parade began in 1996 and continued each year except for one cancellation during the COVID-19 pandemic. This November, the Cumberland County Veterans Council is bringing the community together for its 30th parade. The council will mark the anniversary with the parade itself; Narcisse said no separate post-parade celebration is planned.
Narcisse brings her own family history to that work. She is a retired U.S. Army sergeant first class, the daughter of veterans and the mother of two sons currently serving in the military. She has known military life as a daughter, a soldier and now a mother.
“Service is woven into my family’s story,” Narcisse said.
She said her parents shaped her understanding of duty, her Army career strengthened her commitment to others and watching her sons serve fills her with pride and a mother’s constant prayers for their safety.
Her mother, also a veteran, volunteers alongside her. Narcisse said it is touching to see her mother smiling and working with her on something they both care about. She gets to do that work with her mother, carrying the parade forward together.
Her first experience helping organize the parade brought the weight of that responsibility into focus. Narcisse said the work felt heavy because she understood the significance of planning an event for veterans and the community. When that first parade ended, she cried. She had not been sure she could pull it off.
“It was very heavy, but very rewarding,” she said.
When she sees veterans coming down the route, Narcisse said, she thinks about what spectators may not see: time away from family, difficult decisions, friendships formed and loved ones lost. She also sees the strength, leadership and purpose veterans bring back to their communities.
The Cumberland County Veterans Council brings together veterans and veterans’ organizations in the county. Its parade puts that shared mission in public view. Narcisse said the council’s members are veterans who keep the event going because they believe veterans must make the effort to recognize one another’s service.
The work begins long before spectators see the parade move through downtown Fayetteville. Narcisse said more than 40 volunteers, including some veterans, travel from near and far and arrive as early as 5 a.m. to work in the cold and help make the event possible. Their work starts before spectators arrive and helps bring the parade together for the community.
Then the public sees the results as the parade moves through downtown: veterans’ groups, JROTC units, marching bands, students, civic and faith groups, first responders and many other organizations. Their participation reflects a community taking time to recognize the gift of service veterans have given its residents. People from across Fayetteville show up in different ways, all focused on honoring those who served.
One of the best parts of any family reunion is seeing the extended family. For Fayetteville’s Veterans Day Parade, that includes Gilbert Baez.
Baez is a veteran who served in the U.S. Army as a combat communications officer at Fort Bragg. He is also a longtime journalist and radio personality. He served as master of ceremonies for all of the parade’s first 28 editions. He now hosts WFNC’s weekday morning program, “Good Morning Fayetteville.”
Baez began his broadcast career in radio in 1973. Over the decades, his work has included radio and television reporting in Fayetteville, bringing local stories to audiences across the region. He also worked on air at Fayetteville stations D-103 FM, WZFX-FM and WCCG 104.5. His reporting on military life included covering Fort Bragg soldiers deploying during the Persian Gulf War. He expected to stay in the Middle East about a week but remained nearly two months.
Narcisse described Baez as instrumental to the community, particularly to the parade, for a number of years. The council plans to thank him during this year’s event. His recognition is part of the parade’s larger tribute: veterans honoring fellow veterans while also thanking the people who have helped keep their service visible in the community.
The parade is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7, at 10 a.m. in downtown Fayetteville. It is free and open to the public. Narcisse encourages families to come out and show their gratitude. A wave from a child, applause from a family or a heartfelt thank-you can help a veteran feel seen.
For veterans who return to the route, the parade is a chance to reconnect with fellow veterans. The community’s extended family is there, too, standing alongside them and recognizing what their service has meant.
“One of the most meaningful things we can give a veteran is the assurance that their service has not been forgotten,” Narcisse said.

(Photo: CSM Gregory Seymour, then the Garrison Command Sergeant Major, waves the American flag during the 2023 Cumberland County Veterans Day Parade. Photo by Linda McAlister)