Welcome home parade planned for soldiers

COLORADO SPRINGS (AP) - Troops from Fort Carson will be welcomed home from war with a parade in downtown Colorado Springs on Saturday.

Organizers say the parade could attract even more people than one held in 2004, when police said about 60,000 spectators lined the streets to welcome troops home from Iraq.

Parade organizer John O'Donnell says the 2004 parade was more like a victory parade, but this one is meant to thank the troops for their sacrifices after repeated deployments.

O'Donnell says donors have contributed almost all of the $150,000 needed for the event.

The parade will begin at 10 a.m. in dowtown Colorado Springs on Tejon Street and run from St. Vrain to Vermijo.