The Fourth of July Parade

The weeds had to be pulled in the family garden before the Owens’ kids were allowed to go to the Fourth of July parade.  Unless, of course, we happened to be participants in the parade—the Elementary school “Drum and Bugle Corps,” or perhaps the High school Band.  Oh, it was a grand parade!  The local school bands, the fire trucks, the American Legion, and other groups made it grand—and it felt to us like:  “Seventy-six trombones led the big parade, With a hundred and ten cornets close at hand.  They were followed by rows and rows of the finest virtuosos, the cream of ev’ry famous band.”  Normally the big day ended with a fireworks display at the local airport.  Yes, I remember the Fourth of July in our little town.

I also remember back then, seeing, hearing and reading about other parades in scary places like the old Soviet Union, China and North Korea.  It was scary because we often practiced a drill at school as to what we would do if one of those nations dropped a bomb on us (and from the parades we knew they had those bombs).  These parades featured the military—hundreds, even thousands of armed troops marching, large contingents of armored vehicles, bombs and missiles and military airplanes flying overhead.  Hitler also had such parades. It seems to be the “thing” for authoritarian nations—tyrants threatening their adversaries with overwhelming military might.  These types of parades also serve as instruments of domestic repression. 

Military parades continue to this day in China—in a 2017 parade marking the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Army there were over 100 planes flying and about 600 different types of weapons displayed.  North Korea likes parades, too.  In a 2018 parade,  KIm Jong Un had hundreds of military jets shooting out fireworks, along with thousands of troops and military hardware.  (They must have sound infrastructure in Russia, China and North Korea, because their parades include “moving” tanks).   Saudi Arabia also has a military parade with one of its major features being demonstrations of the military’s  “spectacular explosions.” 

I don’t like military parades.  I don’t think such parades represent the values of this nation and it seems to me to degrade the Fourth of July emphasis of independence.  I stand with retired four-star Army General Stanley McChrystal who recently suggested that the values of citizenship and service could also be observed by honoring Peace Corps volunteers.  “Tanks, planes, they are things, they are not the sinew of the nation.”  Donald Trump’s “Salute to America” misses the point (in fact, changes the meaning) of Independence Day.

Sand Sculpture