Folk Legend Arlo Guthrie Performs at Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

Arlo Guthrie performed his father, Woody Guthrie's, iconic song "This Land Is Your Land" at the 2010 Macy's Thanksgiving Parade with a little help from Bruce Springsteen. Arlo is best known for his hit song "Alice's Restaurant," which is a song that the younger Guthrie wrote in protest of the Vietnam War back in 1965. A satirical cinematic adaptation of the song was released in 1969, starring Guthrie as himself. "Alice's Restaurant" is a funny, upbeat song with serious undertones. As a result, crowds were thrilled to hear Guthrie perform even a serious song at the parade.

"Alice's Restaurant" has become a Thanksgiving tradition in my family. My parents are complete opposites - my father a highly decorated, disabled Army veteran who was seriously wounded in the Vietnam War, and my mother a peace-loving, protesting "hippie" who attended school at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. I grew up listening to the song on Thanksgiving Day, not really knowing what it was about, but enjoying the upbeat, happy tone of the song.

As I got older and joined the military myself, I got married and started my own little family. My husband and I have kept the "Alice's Restaurant" tradition alive with our kids. We are both wartime veterans with multiple combat tours under our belts, and could even be considered "conservative" in our political leanings.

However, we have a great love for "Alice's Restaurant" and the message it portrays. Every Thanksgiving that we are home in Indiana with my parents and siblings, we listen to "Alice's Restaurant" on my dad's record player. It's a great way to come together as a family and enjoy music together. Since we are stationed away from home, if we are unable to make it home for the holidays, we tune into Sirius radio and listen to "24 Hours of Alice's Restaurant" throughout the day. My two children, one a teen and one approaching the teenage years, are both military history buffs and enjoy the song themselves.

The Vietnam War and the public sentiment of the time was vastly different than the wartime culture of today. Vietnam veterans were treated with contempt and even hatred. Very few of them were ever thanked for their service. Today, veterans are profusely thanked and respected for their service. "Alice's Restaurant" gives a small bit of insight into these differences, and is a very important song for every American citizen to listen to and understand. We are proud of this tradition in our family, and will continue it year after year.