Veterans are slamming President Donald Trump’s decision to hold a military parade for the Army’s 250th birthday, according to a report from The Independent. The June 14 celebration also marks Flag Day and President Trump’s 79th birthday.
“I absolutely love the Army from the bottom of my cold black Marine heart,” Joe Plenzler, a retired Marine, told The Independent. “But if the Army’s birthday was a day later, we probably wouldn't be doing it. I’d rather see that $50 million take care of the men and women who went off to war and came back with missing arms, legs, and eyeballs, and with damaged brains.”
The 53-year-old later added that the timing of the parade is “just suspicious.”
The Parade is expected to cost between $25 million and $45 million.
Christopher Purdy, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, believes that's just too much. “It’s embarrassing. It’s expensive. And whatever his reasons are for doing it, I think it’s entirely unnecessary.”
The Atlanta native added, “It signals a real dark turn if we’re just going to roll out the tanks."
There are still many veterans who are ok with the celebration, like James McDonough, who said, “[The president] understands the importance of doing this, not only for the Army, but for the nation.”
Vietnam veteran Michael Nardotti echoed this sentiment similarly. The Independent paraphrased the 78-year-old veteran writing, “[there is] tremendous value in the public seeing soldiers' faces in a parade when active-duty troops make up less than 1% of the population.”
He believes parades like this can help recruitment.
Army Veteran Edmundo Eugenio Martinez Jr. thinks the parade is a “missed opportunity.” The 48-year-old from Texas told the outlet, “Sadly, the timing and the optics and divisive politics have ruined it, and I’m not picking one side or the other. Both sides are guilty.”