For God and Country: The Parade Our Soldiers Deserve

President Trump’s decision to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States Army with a national military parade in Washington is not a political stunt, nor a mere exercise in pomp. It is a moral act of national restoration. After years of demoralization within the armed forces, through politicized mandates, divisive ideological training, and institutional neglect, this moment offers a chance to remind Americans who we are, and what the Army has long stood for: duty, honor, country.

Some critics will scoff. They will say parades are authoritarian relics, signs of militarism. But that objection collapses under the weight of both history and reason. Military parades in democracies are not expressions of tyranny. They are affirmations of gratitude. They remind citizens that freedom has always had a cost, and that someone’s son or daughter was willing to pay it.

Consider the examples. In June 1991, months after victory in the Gulf War, over 8,000 US troops marched through Washington, with tanks and jets roaring above. The event drew 200,000 onlookers. Why? Because Americans, fresh off a swift and decisive campaign, longed to honor their soldiers, something that Vietnam veterans, scandalously, were denied. The 1991 parade was a corrective, a public act of thanks. And it worked.

France understands this. Each year since 1880, the French have lined the Champs-Élysées on July 14 to witness the Bastille Day parade. In 2017, it featured over 3,700 soldiers, 211 vehicles, and countless aircraft. Not a soul accused France of descending into fascism. Instead, President Macron stood shoulder to shoulder with President Trump, in recognition of shared Western values and the martial traditions that protect them.

In Britain, Trooping the Colour has been held annually since 1748, celebrating the monarch’s official birthday. Over 1,400 soldiers participate, joined by 200 horses and 400 musicians. Far from being controversial, the parade is beloved. It is televised, attended by royals, and embraced by Britons across the political spectrum.

Why do these nations, France, Britain, Canada, and yes, the United States, hold military parades? Because they know that a nation that forgets its defenders is a nation ready to be conquered. Because civic rituals, however grand or humble, reinforce identity. And because, despite the bleating of the academic class, the average citizen still understands the difference between reverence and nationalism run amok.

More importantly, parades are not mere symbols. They have a material, psychological impact. Such displays of honor and unity increase civic engagement and national cohesion and foster pride among civilians and veterans alike, countering the alienation many service members feel upon returning home. Economically, they are boons to tourism, revitalizing local commerce and fostering a renewed sense of community.

Which brings us to the towns. Across America, in more than 19,000 incorporated places, thousands of parades take place annually. The Fourth of July remains a high holy day of civic celebration. In Bristol, Rhode Island, the parade has run since 1785. In Crown Point, Indiana, locals line the streets with American flags and homemade floats. Children wave sparklers, veterans ride in open convertibles, and bands march. These are not displays of aggression. They are declarations of love, love of country, of family, of neighbors.

So when Trump calls for a parade to honor the Army’s 250th anniversary, he is not calling for spectacle. He is calling for renewal. He is saying: enough. Enough to the forced injections. Enough to DEI struggle sessions. Enough to seeing unfit officers promoted because they checked the right boxes. Enough to the madness that told career soldiers they must serve under commanders who couldn’t pass a basic physical, or who wore lipstick and heels into combat briefings.

This parade is not performative. It is curative. It is an antidote to demoralization.

For nearly four years, our Army has been made to apologize for existing. Soldiers were told that their masculinity was toxic, that their traditions were exclusionary, that their esprit de corps must bend before the altar of intersectionality. They were ordered to sit through lectures on gender fluidity and white fragility, even as recruitment fell to some of the worst levels in the history of the military and readiness declined. The result? A crisis of morale and trust.

Contrast that with the vision Trump presents: a proud Army, strong and unapologetic, marching through the capital of a country that loves them. Not because they are pawns of policy, but because they are guardians of liberty.

Some will argue that this risks politicizing the military. But that claim inverts reality. The parade does not politicize the Army, it de-politicizes it. It replaces identity politics with national unity, bureaucratic jargon with sacred tradition. It allows the soldier to be a soldier again, not a test subject or a social experiment.

Moreover, it sends a message to the world. Adversaries in Tehran, Beijing, and Moscow will watch. They will see Abrams tanks rolling down Pennsylvania Avenue, not as a threat, but as a warning. The American spirit is not dead. Our republic has not surrendered to cynicism. Our soldiers are honored, and our resolve is renewed.

Even within the philosophical tradition, there is precedent for public ritual. Aristotle taught that habituation forms character. A parade habituates a nation to gratitude. It reminds a forgetful people that courage is real, that sacrifice is noble, that freedom is never free.

This is not a call to arms. It is a call to appreciation. It is the revival of a civic rhythm that unites rich and poor, red and blue, urban and rural. It is a moment in which we remember that the Army does not serve a party, but a people.

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