A mile-long line of tanks, some of the 150 military vehicles set to take part in Saturday’s parade, the “biggest” military parade in American history, and it will take place on the National Mall. There will be some 6,600 troops, 150 vehicles including M1 Abrams tanks, M2 Bradley and Stryker fighting vehicles, and M109 Paladin howitzers, 50 helicopters, and seven bands
Some of the armor and aircraft headed to the nation’s capital are the poster children of the U.S. military’s World War II campaign, like B-25 bombers or the M4 Sherman tanks. There will also be a P-51 Mustang, and a Douglas C-47 Skytrain aircraft.
There will also be an M4 Tractor, a CCKW 2.5-ton truck, a 37mm anti-tank gun, 6 WWII-era Jeeps 3 M151 Jeeps and 2 M35A2 2½-ton cargo trucks, plus one M274 Mule utility truck
The route is laid out west-to-east along the Mall, starting near the Lincoln Memorial and ending by the Washington Monument. Following the concert, the fireworks show is scheduled to begin at 9:45 p.m.
It's a national holiday to honor the American flag and its significance.
President Wilson formally declared June 14 as Flag Day in 1916.
Congress officially designated June 14 as National Flag Day in 1949.
President Truman signed the legislation making Flag Day a national holiday.
Good gallery of the military vehicles at:
Thanks for the information
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that for such "big parade" it's... rather modest, number of troops is not bad, even large but equipment numbers are small. We have every year Armed Forces défilé in Warsaw, last year it was more than 220 different vehicles and 80 planes and helis. And it is more or less the norm, typical number of vehicles oscillate around 200 every year. French at Bastille Day have even more, about 300 vehicles and 100 aircrafts. I just expected a lot more "bang" from first armed forces on the world... more eye candy things for military stuff enthusiasts. Only four(!) Paladins... ONE(!) MH-6... such many cool stuff in army roster, so little to show.
ReplyDeleteAgreed.... if I were organizing it, I'd have a bunch of Army history, and vehicles, on parade. Planes, trucks, cars, tanks, motorcycles, etc etc... every darn thing I could think of. I'd get those guys that do battlefield recreations, to shoot blackpowder rifles and pistols, there's be helicopters and every other dang thing too
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