Washington, DC (The hill) – The capital of the nation on Saturday was overtaken by the sight of tanks that roll down the street, and the helicopter of the army, which buzzed in the sky for a military parade on the 250th anniversary of the US Army.
The much higher -level event, which also stood on President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, showed military vehicles and members of the army, which went down the constitution Avenue for a parade that had become a controversial in the past few weeks. The event attracted thousands of spectators despite the rage.
Here are five snack bars from the parade.
Trump keeps things low
Trump spoke on Saturday at the end of the parade, kept the remarks briefly and called for the event to celebrate the country’s military successes.
“Every other country celebrates its victories. It is also time that America in the prepared remarks, Trump.” We’ll do that tonight. “
The event came on Saturday In the middle of turmoil at home And On the world stageBut there was no mention of Trump of external events. He spoke for about eight minutes and concentrated on the origins of the army and several specific cases of bravery of soldiers in wars in the entire American history.
“When our souls observe this great exhibition, they are with gratitude for every generation of warriors who have withdrawn the uniform to the beginning,” said Trump.
Trump welcomed the members of the service at various points of the parade on Saturday and at some point a group of recent recruits led the oath of setting.
“We are currently the hottest country in the world. And our country will soon be larger and stronger than ever,” said Trump.
JD Vance, Melania Trump take the stage
Both the Vice President JD Vance and First Lady Melania Trump were noticeable throughout the events on Saturday.
Vance, who served in the Marines, gave low comments before Trump spoke. The Vice President nodded the anti-isolationist anti-isolation of the Maga movement.
“We are so proud of you for our soldiers. And let me tell you how we honor and respect you, number one, we never ask you to go to war unless you have to have to,” said Vance.
“And when we ask you to go to war, we give you the weapons and the support that throw out the enemy to hell and return home safely,” he added.
The First Lady performed publicly for the second time this week in participating in the parade. She was sitting next to the president throughout the parade and, according to his comments, closed him on the stage to get a folded flag from a service member.
Parade follows the history of the army, future
The parade was created as a tribute to the 250 years of its existence, starting with the army of George Washington, officially the continental army, during the War of Independence in 1775.
Service members who were dressed in historical robe, some on horseback, first made their way into the Parade route, followed by the iterations of the service from the past decades, including the First World War and the Second World War, the Korea, Vietnam and Gulf Wars as well as the war against terror in the first two decades of the 21st century.
Occasionally videos were displayed on the screen behind the main brain, with the moments of the army being highlighted. One showed Trump’s visit to Fort Bragg last week. Another showed a graduation ceremony and cadets of the US Military Academy in West Point.
Videos with military members who gave certificates about what their service means for them were also shown.
But what was the greatest cheering was the vehicles of the Second World War to Iraq and in the Afghanistan wars and potential conflicts beyond, starting with the M4 Sherman Medium Tank, the Bradley -Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Abrams armored, Stryker armored personnel carriers and Howitzers.
Ending the parade route was a group of troops that represented the future of the army, with 250 recent recruits or soldiers who were resumed, took a break before Trump to raise their right hand and bring their commander-in-chief to the service.
Rain stops; Thousands are highlighted
The threat from the rain threatened in the days before the event on Saturday, with predictions showing a forceful chance of storms during the parade.
Trump said on Saturday morning in a social media contribution that the parade would continue: “rain or sunshine”.
The event was postponed about 30 minutes, shortly before 6 p.m. and shortly before 9 p.m. with fireworks and while a few raindrops fell, the weather was not a problem.
Under the risk of a possible flash, the army departed a planned transfer of F-22 fighter aircraft and Thunderbirds.
Other air events were going on, including a drop of the US Army -golden knight with at least eight parachutes and landed behind the main level when the troops marched along the Avenue constitution.
This was followed by flights from helicopter in Vietnamese war age about the National Mall, followed by groups of Apache attack helicopters, Black Hawks and then from Chinooks towards the end of the parade.
Most GOP legislators do not take part
While most members of Trump’s cabinet joined him on the Riser for the Parade on Saturday, most Republican congress members were not present.
Politico reported at the beginning of the week that only seven out of 50 GOP lawyers on which the Outlet surveyed was interviewed stated the participation. The participants included Trump allies such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA.) And Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas).
Senator Joni Ernst (R-iowa), who served in the army, sat on the Riser with Trump, as did Defense Minister Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem and Foreign Minister Marco Rubio.
The Democrats had criticized it for the weeks before the parade for their considerable price – over 45 million US dollars – and compared to the types of military exhibitions that were seen in authoritarian nations such as North Korea and Russia.
But at least one democrat praised the concept on Saturday.
“This parade consists of our sons, daughters, mothers and fathers to the best of us,” said Senator John Fetterman (D-Pa.) To X.
