Veterans Day 2018 is set to witness a military parade in Washington D.C. on the request of US president Donald Trump. However, the parade will not include tanks as authorities do not want to leave the roads damaged, according to a Pentagon memo released Friday, March 9.
Trump made a request for the parade after he attended the Bastille Day military parade in Paris in 2017, reported Reuters.
New details from a Pentagon memo on the Nov 2018 #Veterans Day/military parade requested by @POTUS:
— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) March 10, 2018
-from @WhiteHouse to the Capitol
-Trump surrounded by vets/medal of honor winners
-period uniforms
-fife & drums
-no tanks
-heavy air component at the end pic.twitter.com/wKLFFsgRwe
The Pentagon memo gave out specific details of the November 11 Veterans Day military parade and said the route taken will be from the White House to the Capitol and will also have a "heavy air component at the end of the parade."
"Include wheeled vehicles only, no tanks - consideration must be given to minimize damage to local infrastructure," the memo added.
While the cost of the parade and celebrations haven't been revealed, NPR reported that it could cost as much as $50 million. Trump proposed the idea in February 2018, and it was met with criticism from several quarters.
"I think confidence is silent and insecurity is loud," The Hill quoted Senator John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, as saying. "America is the most powerful country in all of human history; you don't need to show it off."
Military parades are not common in the US and are usually held to celebrate war victories. The last time the US saw such a parade was in the year 1991, when Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces were thrown out of Kuwait in the Gulf War.
