There’s been talk about a military parade to take place in Washington, D.C., this June 14th, which happens to be Donald Trump’s 79th birthday and, coincidently, the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army. According to recent statements, plans for this parade are only in the preliminary stages. But the way things have been going in D.C. in recent months, it seems to me anything is possible.
As the Associated Press reported the other day, “The Trump administration is having early discussions about a grand military parade in the nation’s capital this summer, something that is a long-held dream of President Donald Trump.”
Although the White House said recently, “No military parade has been scheduled,” the Army birthday festival has been in the planning stages for some time. It is to involve, according to the AP, “an array of activities and displays on the National Mall, including Army Stryker armored vehicles, Humvees, helicopters and other equipment.” Surely one can imagine Donald Trump wanting to make this a grand parade — a big part of his own birthday celebrations.
Trump had fallen in love with such mighty military shows in Paris during his first administration. After watching the two-hour procession down the Champs-Elysees on Bastille Day in 2017, he decided he wanted an even grander one in Washington along Pennsylvania Avenue. At that time (when he had more cautious advisers, I’d say), he had to scrap the idea due to the enormous price tag ($92 million). But now? Now, in this new reign, it seems he has free rein. The sky is not even the limit for Donald Trump. And after all, June 14th is his birthday — a time for self-indulgence and big wishes.
(The sky’s not even the limit for Donald Trump. [Stock photo])
With all that’s been happening in the news lately – all of the upheaval caused by Trump’s enormous wrecking ball — this possible parade may seem like a small thing. But just the idea of it makes me clearly recall the grand military parade I witnessed in Libreville, Gabon, when I served in the Peace Corps there (1996-98).
At the time, Omar Bongo, the longtime strongman president, was said to be one of the richest men in the world, all thanks to his country’s oil, timber, and mining, plus his government’s kleptocracy. He was a small man with many wives and countless mistresses and a seemingly well equipped army to protect his little country (the size of Colorado), which was not being threatened by war.
As I stood on the sidelines with the gaping throngs, seeing the disciplined soldiers, huge tanks and all sorts of impressive military equipment pass by, I got Bongo’s unspoken message to everyone watching: “Step out of line, and I will crush you.”
In Peace Corps training we were taught never to get involved in our host country’s politics. We were to be polite, appreciative, and helpful guests only, not political activists nor missionaries for any church or cause. But one time, in one of my Friday night free English classes for a group of enthusiastic high school students in my little town of Lastoursville deep in the middle of this rainforested Francophone country, I made a big mistake.
As I wrote in my Peace Corps memoir HOW TO COOK A CROCODILE, I made the mistake of raising the verboten topic of politics, hoping it might lead to a lively conversation in English:
We were sitting in a circle in my living room, four of the core boys and myself, when I too-straightforwardly shared my unvarnished view that the Gabonese people seemed to me to be too apathetic about their situation. Why did they allow their government to do whatever it wished? Why didn’t they stand up for themselves and demand their rights?
“Apathy is complicity,” I said, tossing out these weighty English words in the hope that the boys would catch their significance and a heated discussion would ensue.
My words fell heavily, and the boys stiffened. Their eyes darted across the length of the louvered windows in my living room. Thierry shook his head slowly from side to side. Regis fixed his gaze on me and drew his right index finger gingerly across his throat. Martial froze. The boys’ body language told me instantly: You mustn’t say these things. People could be watching, listening. We cannot speak ill of President Bongo if we want to live.
Jacques, an active member of [the local] Christian Alliance church, spoke up. “Papa Bongo takes good care of us,” he said in French. “We live in peace. He is a good president. God put him in office. It is not for us to question God’s plan.” The other boys nodded.
“Ah, yes, of course, you’re right,” I said carefully and slowly in English, then repeated again in French for whoever might have been lurking outside. I didn’t want to put these boys in danger. Free speech was not an option for them, in any language.
At the time, in that moment, I was deeply grateful for the freedom of expression I’d always taken for granted in my country. But now? Today? Now it seems everything about the U.S. government is being turned upside down. Anything is possible now.
Maybe Trump will get his birthday parade after all. Maybe this display of military might will show the world, including all of his domestic detractors like me, just how mighty he is, how easily he could crush and silence us all.
To quote Trump’s often-repeated evasive response to journalists’ questions, “Well, we’ll see what happens.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
More on the news reports of Trump’s possible military parade:
https://apnews.com/article/military-parade-dc-trump-9ca70b018fe4f663ecaaf993d1b45a59
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/07/politics/trump-plans-military-parade-washington/index.html
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/army-bigger-mark-250th-military-parade-trump/story?id=120609020
find me on facebook