By Christopher Young,
Contributing Writer,
It was the Second Continental Congress in 1777 that adopted a resolution to commemorate the flag of the Unites States by establishing Flag Day. Two years earlier, to the day, the Congress had authorized the American Continental Army on June 14, 1775. Yet it wasn’t until 1916 that President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation officially establishing June 14 as Flag Day. Thirty-three years later, in 1949, Congress enacted a statute that officially recognized Flag Day, yet the day has never been listed as an official federal holiday. The statute leaves it to the president’s discretion to proclaim its observance and every president since Wilson has done just that. Pennsylvania became the first state, and still the only state, to celebrate Flag Day as a legal state holiday, on June 14, 1937, per https://www.politico.com.
This year, President Trump is finally getting what he wished for during his first term, a grand birthday celebration and military parade. The Army will be celebrating its 250th birthday on June 14th – Flag Day. A celebration that has been two years in the planning, now includes Trump’s idea for an “official military parade” on the streets of Washington, D.C., per numerous sources. The parade will include thousands of troops, army combat equipment such as tanks which require special steel plating to be installed so the streets are not torn up, warplanes flying over, and so much more. The initial estimate of cost to the taxpayer is $45 million. No one knows what the final number will be.
During his first term as President, Trump had attended the Bastille Day Parade in France and was “dazzled by the event,” per North Jersey News, part of the USA Today Network. He expressed to French President Macron at the time that he wanted to “top it.” The French National Day is an annual celebration on July 14th, commemorating the storming of the Bastille – igniting the French Revolution in 1789. This was an act of violence by regular people, fighting for liberty and justice, against the monarchy, which is starkly different from celebrating the anniversary of a country’s army, or the establishment of a country’s flag.
The Associated Press reports that 28 M1 Abrams battle tanks are being brought in from Texas for the parade, in addition to 28 tracked Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 28 Stryker Combat Vehicles, 4 Paladin M-109 self-propelled Howitzers, more than 50 army helicopters and aircraft, and 6,700 soldiers from around the country. The parade will begin near the Lincoln Memorial and conclude after passing the White House. The Army’s Golden Knights parachute team will land near Trump’s viewing stand to present him with a folded flag.
Another feature of the day, and certainly a contradiction, will be when Trump swears in new soldiers and some who are reenlisting , 250 in all. A Commander-in-Chief who personally avoided military service, with four student deferments and one medical deferment (‘temporary bone spur in his heel’) in 1968, will administer the oath of enlistment.
On May 24, 2025, Trump gave the Commencement Address to graduates at West Point. The full transcript can be found at https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-speech-commencement-address-west-point-usma-may-24-2025. Graduations are about graduates and their accomplishments; but his address was overflowing with his own grievances and claims of his own greatness. It seems that nothing is sacred with this president. He could care less about the Constitution, democracy, military academy cadets that are eager to do what he wasn’t, and the fundamentals of right and wrong.
His contradictions become deeper and even more acute as we are reminded that West Point cadets live under an Honor Code. The Honor Code states, “A Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.” During his first four years in office, the Washington Post fact-checker indicates Trump had 30,573 false or misleading claims. Nothing has changed. Numerous outlets continue to detail his day-to-day lies and misrepresentations during this term.
Cadets at military academies, usually 18–22-year-olds, live by a code. They live with honor. Is anything more convoluted or destructive in America today than having a president who does not? His needs for personal adoration and to wield power are limitless. He uses the word “I,” far more than the word “we.” Americans are now enduring an American president whose focus on our well-being and our country’s well-being is always secondary to his own aspirations.
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