Posted on 02/07/2018 6:34:25 AM PST by reaganaut1
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Defense is planning a military parade at the request of President Donald Trump, White House and Pentagon officials said Tuesday.
After observing the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris last year, Mr. Trump said he wanted to hold a similar parade on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, perhaps to celebrate the Fourth of July.
The French parade last July, which also marked the centennial of the U.S. entry into World War I, featured more than 6,000 service members, tanks and planes overhead in an elaborate display of military might. French President Emmanuel Macron invited Mr. Trump to watch the parade beside him.
“It was one of the greatest parades I’ve ever seen,” Mr. Trump said in September at the Lotte New York Palace hotel. “And to a large extent, because of what I witnessed, we may do something like that on July Fourth in Washington, down Pennsylvania Avenue. I don’t know. We’re going to have to try and top it.”
The Washington Post first reported the Mr. Trump had asked the Pentagon to arrange an event in the Bastille Day style. Pentagon officials said late Tuesday that plans were in their infancy.
On Wednesday, the chairman of the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joe Dunford, acknowledged the parade plans while traveling in Asia. “I’m aware of the president’s request and we are in the initial planning stages to meet the president’s direction,” he said during a stop in Bangkok.
The White House said the decision demonstrated Mr. Trump’s support for the military.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
And would the troops have the options of opting out? No. They would have to participate. And it would take hundreds of hours from each participant to plan coordinate, etc. etc. A royal PITA for those who actually have to be IN it.
I’m quite sure they’d rather have the 4th of July off.
You’re the one suggesting to JimRob that people who disagree with you on this thread should be zotted. I find your language and disrespect to those who disagree with you deplorable.
People (and countries) that are confident in their power and ability have no need for external display of same. That course of action is for those who have a compulsive need to bolster a weak and wavering self-image.
I find a lack of basic patriotism deplorable.
...of course, if they simply want to use the "show" troops stationed up there around Washington, DC, that's no skin off my nose.
I did most of my 20+ here at Fort Hood. We were always too busy to play soldiers ... and the guys stationed here now are either in recovery time between deployments, preparing for deployment, or in the process of preparing to return from deployment.
Thanks for your service.
“Speak softly and carry a big stick.” Unless you have to compensate for something. Hmmm.....
They’ll get enough volunteers to pull this off for Trump. No problem. The weak minded need to stay home anyway.
The Left will howl and hate this idea. They remember the study that came out recently noting that the children exposed to the flag turn out to be patriotic as adults. Oh, the humanity!!!
Our feminist persona as a nation projects weakness. Every now and then Uncle Sam needs to take off his shirt and flex.
I’m guessing you never actually served in the military.....
Rule number 1. Never volunteer for anything. ESPECIALLY parades.
"Its mission was to make friendly courtesy visits to numerous countries, while displaying America's new naval power to the world."
Oh yeah?...
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/07/us/american-military-parades/index.htm
US Navy vet here. Yes I agree parades are a pain. Tough. They’re getting paid. We are losing the country. This is a great idea.
I will refrain from the personal attacks in this this thread however. Everybody is entitled to their opinion but they should follow the rules of the forum and be civil to each other.
Personally, I think Trump is just trolling the left here. He's drawing them out to show the rest of us how much they hate our military.
“On another note, why have we got all these service-avoiding/draft-dodging types on the Free Republic?”
Just because someone doesn’t join the military they don’t belong here?
A VERY strange way of thinking.
.
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When I returned from Germany in '81, I went straight to the Captains course. From there, I went to what was then known as the Air Defense Board, whose mission was testing weapons systems.
Back then, it was given that you didn't screw with returnees from Germany or Korea for at least a year. I would usually take a 3 margarita lunch when my work was caught up, which was usually about 11 AM.
The only exceptions occurred was when we would have a VIP stop by, and one of my jobs was to deliver those briefings, unless it was a 4 star or civilian equivalent. Those briefings were handled by the Colonel (my last battalion commander in Germany), though I was there to answer any and all questions.
It was about the only job I've ever had with implied power from Day One. It seems that the old man was talking up my arrival a month before I got there. I dropped by his office to say hi, only to find out he was in a staff meeting. He must have heard my voice, as he stopped the meeting to bring me in to introduce me.
It looked good on my resume...a young Captain serving in a slot for a LT Colonel.
Fixed.
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