Pride for veterans, America’s 250th felt from crowd during D.C. Memorial Day parade
Thousands of people flocked to the nation’s capital Monday for the Memorial Day parade, with participants gathering for the first of many official 250th anniversary celebrations that will take place this summer.
High school bands from Arkansas to Massachusetts played patriotic tunes such as “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and “The Liberty Bell March” as veterans of Operation Desert Storm and the Vietnam and Korean wars boarded floats to salute the dozens of people lining Constitution Avenue Northwest.
Hundreds of people camped on the steps of the National Archives, the parade’s official starting point, as MCs announced the next group that would begin marching west toward the Washington Monument.
The weather seemed to take note of the schedule, with the fog and rain conditions leading up to the parade, which had lasted for several days, cleared in time for the 10 a.m. start.
Members of the Lancaster County Navy…
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Light rain started again at just the right time as the crowds thinned out three hours later.
National pride radiated among the families, couples and residents of the Washington, D.C. area who lined the parade route, many of whom were decked out in red, white and blue to honor those who gave their lives defending the country.
Amy and Tom Strom came from La Crosse, Wisconsin to join in the Memorial Day weekend festivities near the National Mall.
Mr. Strom’s father fought in World War II and was on a ship near Iwo Jima when Marines raised the American flag on the Japanese island in February 1945.
Ms. Strom said the couple had gone to the National Memorial Day concert on the U.S. Capitol grounds the day before and were looking forward to Monday’s procession.
“We are very proud to be here,” Ms. Strom said. “It makes you realize that the sacrifices that were made 250 years ago were part of an amazing experiment that still works today.”
Some other parade-goers felt the event could have been a little more sizzling.
Kenley Bowyer, who was in town with her husband from Lafayette, Indiana, praised President Trump’s efforts to decorate the district with flags marking the nation’s 250th birthday.
But she said organizers could have set off fireworks or, jokingly, suggested they fly a bald eagle overhead to pump up the energy.
Attendees who remember America’s 200th birthday celebration in 1976 also said there was a change in enthusiasm.
Steve Fontaine, a Navy veteran who took the subway from his home in Arlington, blamed some of the gloomy atmosphere on gloomy weather.
But he also said unspecified changes in “spectator demographics” over the past 50 years contributed to the anniversary’s more subdued atmosphere.
Another woman, who asked to remain anonymous but said she had come from Australia to visit her son based in the District, suggested that Mr Trump’s return to the White House had soured some of the patriotic fervor she had seen during previous visits to the United States.
However, parade participants noticed an extra dose of enthusiasm among the crowd compared to previous years.
Marquett Milton, a staff member at the African American Civil War Memorial Museum, said the aura of America 250 translates to more people coming to watch the festivities themselves.
As for the participation of his own organization, in which members wear the uniforms of the district-based 1st United States Colored Infantry Regiment, he said that typically only five or six members participate in the parade.
This year, however, he said, more than 15 members dressed for the role.
Mr. Milton, a Washington native, said his help with the African American Civil War Memorial Museum aims to raise awareness of the role black Americans played in reunifying the country after its deadliest conflict.
“We are part of American history,” he said. “The nation was divided during the institution of slavery during the Civil War, and because we helped end it, we brought the country together. [President Abraham] Lincoln wanted to be a whole country, not separate.
