Washington’s Last Military Parade Came at a Very Different Moment

Politics|Washington’s Last Military Parade Came at a Very Different Moment

It began with an F-117 stealth fighter flying by as thousands of U.S. troops began a 3.5-mile march from Capitol Hill.

The last major military parade in the nation’s capital was on June 8, 1991, just months after the end of Operation Desert Storm. It was called the National Victory Celebration, and its festivities were a celebration of American military might and technological prowess after U.S. and coalition forces had expelled the Iraqi army from Kuwait following roughly a month of airstrikes and a 100-hour ground war.

Once the wedge-shaped black jet flew down the National Mall, more than a dozen Army and Navy helicopters followed, as did an OV-10 Bronco observation plane from the Marines.

Hundreds of thousands of people cheered as more than 8,000 active-duty and reserve service members from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard along with a civilian contingent from the Merchant Marine made their way along the route from Capitol Hill down Constitution Avenue, over the Memorial Bridge across the Potomac River to the Pentagon.

Early in the route, they marched under a huge yellow ribbon suspended over the road by cranes.

On Saturday, troops and military equipment were set to again roll down the streets of Washington, this time for the Army’s 250th birthday celebration. President Trump has boasted about plans for the “amazing day,” which is also his 79th birthday.