DATE: Tuesday, May 27, 1997                 TAG: 9705270043

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   44 lines

PORTSMOUTH BRAVES RAIN TO SALUTE WAR DEAD

It wouldn't be unusual for World War II veteran William Austin to salute the American flag on Memorial Day - except that it was raining at the time and Portsmouth's annual parade was mostly a washout.

But the spirit of the day was strong among the people who came downtown Monday to be in the parade and to watch it. They marched anyway.

And, like Austin, they watched anyway.

Even though the bands scheduled to march stayed on their buses, there was live music for those standing under building awnings and umbrellas near the reviewing stand.

Members of the Hampshire Constabulary Band, visiting for a week from Portsmouth, England, were undaunted by the weather. Clustered under the overhang of a building near the reviewing stand, the band provided appropriate march music for almost an hour as most of the would-be paraders passed by in closed cars.

The parade marshal, Assistant Navy Secretary James Douglass, arrived at the reviewing stand in a closed car rather than a convertible. But he was on schedule and, behind him, the Portsmouth Sheriff's Department color guard braved driving wind and rain to lead the parade of packed automobiles and empty floats up Crawford Street.

That's when Portsmouth resident Austin, ignoring the weather, stepped up to the curb to salute the flag. A survivor of the Normandy invasion and other major battles of the war, Austin wore his Combined Forces beret.

The Tidewater Community Flag and Drum Group was determined as well. Their bus brought them to the area of the reviewing stand and stopped. They got out in the weather and did their routines for the honored guests before reboarding and moving on.

Many spectators stayed for the duration even though the wind drove the rain into sheltered areas around downtown buildings.

The umbrella carried by Mayor James Holley III was whipped inside out as he headed for the reviewing stand, where dignitaries opted to stand rather than sit on wet chairs.

About the time the motorized parade reached the end of the line at Elm Avenue and London Boulevard, the rain stopped.

But by then, the show was over and soggy spectators were headed home. KEYWORDS: MEMORIAL DAY

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