Trump's Big Parade

US Army 250th Anniversary Parade

On June 14, 2025, President Donald Trump oversaw the biggest American military parade since 1991, in Washington, DC. The parade celebrated the evolution of the US Army over the last 250 years, since its establishment on June 14, 1775. What I want to comment on is the quality of the parade as a spectacle, and the response to it by the American people. Since I wrote the book on parades, I feel qualified to do this.

As a spectacle, it was lacking. I have written in my book (https://www.dougmatthewsauthor.com/why-we-love-parades) that parades are intended to evoke an emotional response and to connect the participants with the spectators. Furthermore, parades such as this one are intended to instil loyalty to the organizer, in this case President Trump. I think the parade failed on both fronts.

Since military parades seldom include unique visual displays like floats, they must rely on the pomp and ceremony of whatever is attractive about only the military. This inveriably boils down to ceremonial dress uniforms, near-perfect synchronous marching, massed brass bands or pipes and drums, various forms of transportation, and displays of military equipment. If some kind of crowd participation can be devised, it adds to the appeal.

Ceremonial uniforms were noticeably absent. We were treated to endless segments of soldiers in camouflage, with no apparent markings–or for that matter, running commentary– to tell them apart by either regiment or era. The supposed excuse was that the Army is in the middle of a uniform upgrade and not all soldiers have the new uniforms yet. Surely there would be enough available that they could have made an attempt to get the soldiers chosen for the parade to all be in ceremonial dress.

With the exception of small contingents from the military academies, most of the marching was inexcusably poor. While the American style of marching is not the most dramatic or exciting, when they put their mind to it, it can be very inspiring. In this parade, we were treated to what appeared to be lacklustre participation by many of the soldiers. My personal theory–and I give them the benefit of the doubt here–is that there were no bands to keep time for signifcant sections of the parade, meaning the soldiers were left to their own devices to stay in step. Some inaudible commands by leaders may have been there, but were unheard by this TV spectator.

There were some bands, to be sure, and when they appeared, they were good – and synchronous marching was maintained. There were just not enough of them. If one views military parades in countries like China and Russia, they employ a massed band opposite the reviewing dais that provide visual spectacle and proper tempo – at least for the short period the soldiers pass in review.

Transportation and military equipment were present but were really too much of a good thing, with too much repetition of peronnel carriers and tanks and very little in the way of actual missiles or mobile missile carriers, or anything creatively displayed. In fact I saw none of the latter but then maybe I just failed to recognize them for what they were.

See the video below of the 2024 Republic Day Parade in India to understand my comments of the last few paragraphs.

2024 Republic Day Parade in India

What I gleaned from the US Army parade and from media commentary, was that it reflected the obvious fact that the American people are very conflicted at this point in time. Generally, they love and respect their military, but have really lost sight of why or how they should be honoured. Their dislike for President Trump further complicates the problem, since this parade was promoted by him.

The conflict really began following the Vietnam War, when the My Lai massacre and the carpet bombing with Agent Orange of large parts of Cambodia and Vietnam proved to be an embarrassment for the United States both at home and abroad. However, in spite of that, the American military, in total, has remained amongst the largest militaries in the world, sandwiched between China and India with more, and North Korea and Russia with less. No parade was ever held for returning Vietnam veterans but victorious Gulf War veterans did get one in 1991. Otherwise, there is no annual celebration as there is in the other four countries with the largest militaries. Also as there is in other democratic countries like Great Britain, France, and Mexico. Why not now and in the future? Is it really because some of the other countries are communist and the USA does not want to emulate them? For goodness sakes, why not? They have military parades to instil pride and patriotism in their populace. For a gun-loving populace like the Americans, one must wonder.