HIGH POINT – When Jack Austin sets his mind on something, come hell or high water, the old Marine will always follow through.

That’s what happened in 1945, when he dropped out of school in the ninth grade to enlist – “Me and three other guys just decided we were gonna fight for our country and end the war,” he says – and that’s what happened a quarter-century ago, when he came up with the idea of having an annual Veterans Day Parade in High Point.

“If nobody else is gonna do it,” he remembers thinking, “I’ll just get it started myself.”

Not only did the 82-year-old High Point veteran get it started – he organized the first parade in 1984 – he’s been at the helm ever since, stamping his signature on 25 consecutive Veterans Day Parades.

This year, though, health problems have forced Austin to hand over the reins – albeit reluctantly – to Don Webb, a former naval officer who is coordinating this afternoon’s parade. Austin suffered a heart attack and had quadruple-bypass surgery in 2007, and a stroke has slowed him down this year.

“I’ve been so sick lately, I don’t hardly know what I’m doing,” Austin says with a soft chuckle, “but I think I’m getting better. I think I am.”

Austin, a stoutly patriotic man with two flags flying out front at his home – an American flag and a Marine Corps flag – traces the roots of High Point’s annual Veterans Day Parade to 1983, when he tried to drum up interest in organizing a parade, but couldn’t find any takers.

“I went around to all these veterans’ organizations, but they all said, ‘Nah, we’re too old for that,’” Austin says. “So I said, ‘I’m gonna show you something – I’m gonna ride up and down Main Street on Veterans Day with a flag.’”

And that’s exactly what he did, except he actually had two American flags flying in the breeze as he cruised Main Street on his candy apple-red Harley-Davidson. Passing motorists honked their horns and gave Austin the thumbs-up sign, which encouraged him to give the parade idea another shot the next year. This time, he found support, and the parade became an institution.

“That first year, we had about 50 units,” Austin recalls. “And I think we had maybe 2,000 spectators – I thought it was a pretty good crowd.”

The crowds have grown since then, and so has the parade itself. Today’s parade will feature more than 200 units, according to Webb.

Austin can tell story after story about his tireless efforts to organize the parade, which pretty much became a year-round job, he says. One year he went the extra mile to get patrol boats from the Coast Guard. Another year he arranged for a squadron of military helicopters to fly in formation over Main Street. There were years he ponied up the money himself to provide miniature American flags for spectators.

“He’s passionate about it,” Webb says. “He’s passionate about being a veteran and honoring other veterans. He’s set a great example for our community.”

Charlotte Young, chief executive officer of the High Point Convention & Visitors Bureau, recalls how Austin was a good steward of grants he received for the parade.

“For as long as I can remember each year, Jack would request a small Arts and Tourism Grant to support the Veterans Day Parade,” she says. “The committee response was always unanimous, and you could be sure he would show up after the event to return any unused funds, sometimes even if it was only two or three dollars.”

For his part, Austin says organizing the parade all these years has been his privilege.

“I’ll go out of my way to do something for my neighbors or my country,” he says softly. “I enjoy that.”