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The United States Department of Defense is all set to fulfil President Donald Trump’s dream of carrying out a military parade in Washington DC. The route will be from the White House to the US Capitol Building.
According to a guidance memo from the Office of the Secretary of Defense obtained by NBC News, the event will include “no tanks”.
However, it will play the host to “a heavy air component at the end of the parade, to include older aircraft as available”.
Earlier it was reported that Trump had asked for a ‘military parade’ and the Pentagon was reviewing potential dates.
The White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Trump had asked the Defense Department to “explore” the idea.
“President Trump is incredibly supportive of America’s great service members who risk their lives every day to keep our country safe. He has asked the Department of Defense to explore a celebration at which all Americans can show their appreciation,” CNN had quoted Sanders as saying.
The parade, as per NBC News, is to take place in November, most likely on Veterans Day (November 11).
“It will focus on the contributions of our veterans throughout the history of the US military, starting from the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 to today, with an emphasis on the price of freedom,” according to the guidance memo from the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
In September 2017, US President Trump had shared how impressed he was by the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris.
He had visited French President Emmanuel Macron and concluded “to a large extent, because of what I witnessed, we may do something like that on July 4 in Washington, down Pennsylvania Avenue”.
And, Trump had told the Washington Post in January 2017 that he wants to put the military on display.
The cost of the parade, however, remains unclear.
Image: The idea of Trump's military parade comes after he saw the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris in 2017. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters