The US Army celebrates its 250th anniversary : NPR

Debbie Elliott, Host:

Thousands of unions will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the US Army today and then walk at Washington DC. President Trump pushed the 79th birthday for a military parade. Frank Langfitt of NPR was talking to people near the parade yesterday and now joining us. Good morning Frank.

Frank Langfitt, Byline: Hey. Good morning Debbie.

Elliott: So what do you hear from people?

Langfitt: Yes. I met a few people who were deported or flying here for the parade. Many of them came from military families. And they all said it was a great opportunity to honor the army created in 1775. I met this man named Jerry Miller (PH), he says he’s a veteran and a Trump supporter. It took five hours from his home in a town called Hope Mills in North Carolina. This is the National Shopping Center II. We were chatting next to the fountains he was on the Monument of World War II and he said.

Jerry Miller: It is great to have this parade. I’m a soldier. I always wanted to be – I am very proud. My family is proud of our country and other people should be proud of this country. The United States is worth defending. Worth fighting for. There is no other country like the United States, so everyone wants to come here. So we have to remove the walls to keep people out.

Elliott: So some people are excited about it, but I dream that I think you have found some of those who feel different.

Langfitt: Yes. There was a lot. So everyone acknowledged that it was very important to honor and celebrate Jerry and the army. This was not about the army. But there were various concerns we heard. Price tag – $ 25 to 45 million dollars at a time when management is trying to reduce costs. Tanks that tear the streets of DC have worried that they will produce metal plates to protect them overnight. But the biggest objection, Debbie is what we have heard for a while, and this is the idea of ​​spending the military equipment through the country’s capital. I mean, some people in the shopping mall yesterday saw President Trump as muscle flexibility.

I met this man named Gavin Schmidt (pH). He – he says he’s politically moderate. And he was in the town – his family Albuquerque, from New Mexico.

Gavin Schmidt: I think he’s trying to show power and authority, so it’s the authoritarian side of something to me. I don’t think this is a necessary show of power. They know what we have and what we can do.

Langfitt: His wife Danielle (pH) went even further.

Danielle: His strength is trying to show today’s dictators and such dictators in China and Russia in the past. He’s just trying to show the same power.

Elliott: Such military parade ceremonies are not widespread here in the United States after the first Gulf War returned in 1991. However, they are common in other countries. I guess Frank, do you have a little experience about it?

Langfitt: I did. You know, I’ve been living in China for many years. And I remember in ’99, I was taking this giant military parade. This was for the 50th anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China. And the communist regime, Debbie, was very afraid of protests, they told ordinary people who lived on the way to the passage of their homes. Finally I watched the passage ceremony on a friend’s balcony. And in many ways, people saw this as a sign of weakness by the regime.

Now, this parade will be very different tonight. It’s easy to buy tickets. However, you know, President Trump also expressed his concerns about the protesters, and threatened that they would face a very heavy force if they emerged.

Elliott: So what did you see? Have you been able to prevent some tanks and other things that will be part of the parade?

Langfitt: I wasn’t. You know, they were behind the wooden walls. I went to call them, full potomac. I could see them on the other side of the river, but they were actually a little hidden. When they appeared, I could not say whether they wanted a dramatic effect, or whether the organized was a controversial ceremony of Debbie.

Elliott: Frank Langfitt of this NPR. Thanks a lot.

Langfitt: happy to do this, Debbie.

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