New York City is preparing to bring veterans, military families, and civilians together next month for a new public commemoration focused on service, remembrance, and connecting former service members with practical support.
The inaugural Remembrance Ruck will take place Sept. 13, beginning at Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, and concluding at Foley Square in Manhattan. The event is being organized by the New York City Department of Veterans’ Services (DVS) in partnership with New York Road Runners. Registration is now open, according to an Aug. 20 announcement from the Mayor’s Office.
Although “rucking” traditionally involves walking while carrying a weighted rucksack, the city is not requiring participants to carry weight. The official DVS event page says participants may use a weighted rucksack or vest or simply walk the route. Veterans, active-duty service members, reservists, caregivers, survivors, Gold Star Families, military families, and members of the general public are all invited to participate.
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani described the event as an opportunity to bring the wider city together around its military community, saying, “The Remembrance Ruck will bring New Yorkers together to honor and support the people who have served.”
The event carries particular meaning as New York approaches the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. DVS says the ruck will recognize veterans and military families shaped by more than two decades of post-9/11 military service while also remembering New Yorkers whose deaths were connected to their service.
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DVS Commissioner Yesenia Mata, who also serves as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve, said the march is intended to carry that remembrance forward. “Every step of this Remembrance Ruck carries purpose,” Mata said when the event was first announced in April.
The names of fallen service members will also form part of the commemoration. The city says the event recognizes that losses connected to the post-9/11 generation continued after deployments ended and emphasizes community, connection, and access to support for veterans and their families.
From a ticker-tape parade to a ruck
The Remembrance Ruck represents a change in format from an earlier plan to honor the same generation of veterans.
In May 2025, former Mayor Eric Adams announced that New York would hold a “Homecoming of Heroes” ticker-tape parade on July 6, 2026, honoring post-9/11 combat veterans and their families. The city described it at the time as the first major-city ticker-tape parade specifically dedicated to veterans of the post-9/11 conflicts. The original Mayor’s Office announcement said the event was intended to recognize a generation shaped by the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the broader Global War on Terror.
Adams characterized the planned parade as a public expression of gratitude, saying, “This parade marks a small seed of our gratitude.”
At the time, then-DVS Commissioner James Hendon stressed the importance of public recognition in helping bridge the gap between military and civilian communities. Discussing military homecoming parades, Hendon said, “We do these parades as a way to show love to our sentinels.”
After the change in mayoral administrations, the ticker-tape parade did not go forward. News 12 reported in April that the Mamdani administration confirmed the Remembrance Ruck would be held in place of the Homecoming of Heroes parade. The new event maintains the emphasis on post-9/11 veterans while changing the form of the tribute from a traditional parade to a participatory march accompanied by veteran services.
The new format also draws on a practice that already has deep roots in military culture. Ruck marches are commonly associated with military training and service, where personnel travel on foot carrying equipment and supplies. In the commemorative setting, the physical act of walking together is intended to symbolize endurance, shared burdens, and camaraderie.
The timing adds another dimension. Instead of taking place in July, the Remembrance Ruck will be held on Sept. 13, two days after the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks that triggered the long period of overseas military operations the event is intended to commemorate.
The result is a different type of civic tribute: rather than New Yorkers watching veterans travel along the Canyon of Heroes, veterans, their families, and civilians will be invited to walk together across one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks.
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Recognition paired with practical support
The Remembrance Ruck is also designed to extend beyond ceremony.
After reaching Manhattan, participants will be invited to a veteran and military community resource fair at Surrogate’s Court near Foley Square. Organizations there will provide information on veterans benefits, housing and supportive services, mental health and wellness, health care, employment, financial assistance, and peer and community support.
That practical component comes as the city examines how effectively it connects its large veteran population with available assistance.
An Aug. 18 review by the New York City Comptroller’s Office estimated that approximately 122,700 veterans lived in New York City in 2024. DVS, established as a standalone department in 2016, remains one of the city’s smallest agencies, with approximately $6.1 million in fiscal 2025 expenditures and 36 employees at the end of that fiscal year.
The review identified longstanding technical and administrative shortcomings in VetConnectNYC, the city’s online portal intended to connect veterans with services. But it also provided a roadmap for improvement, recommending better system performance, stronger vendor accountability, improved collection of user feedback, and greater engagement with veterans themselves. DVS agreed with the Comptroller’s recommendations and said it was committed to improving the system.
Comptroller Mark Levine summarized the goal in straightforward terms: “New York City owes our veterans more than gratitude — we owe them a Government that works.”
Veteran advocates have likewise emphasized that meaningful recognition works best when veterans themselves are involved in shaping it.
Michael Matos, president of Five Borough Veterans, raised concerns in April about communication surrounding the transition from the parade to the Remembrance Ruck. But his message also included detailed recommendations for making the new event successful, including involving veteran leaders in planning, emphasizing veterans’ continuing contributions to the city, and encouraging civilians to participate. In his statement on the event, Matos urged the mayor to work directly with the community, writing, “Learn from us, so we can better support you as you lead the city that we all love.”
That community-building approach is increasingly central to the Remembrance Ruck itself. Rather than separating remembrance from veteran services, the city is attempting to combine the two: honoring those who served while making it easier for veterans and military families to find assistance, meet other members of the community, and connect with organizations that can help.
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