Trump's Birthday Parade

[Dr. Shades]

*About I dunno 5 years ago I was in Old Navy and asked if they give discounts with a military ID card. (I have one) Turns out I was there on the wrong day and they only give discounts one day a week. To which I went into a speech about how..."That's too bad this store only sees fit to give military discounts (I think it was 10%) one day a week in this military town when our military is on duty 24/7, they are subject to being called in in the middle of the night, don't get sick days, and when they're deployed their spouses don't know where they are going, worry about their safety, if there's a conflict they're glued to television reports all day long trying to see if they can pick their wife/husband out of a sea of uniforms, they're wearing 2 hats 24/7 that they're gone, rowing the boat alone, with no family around, with no breaks until they return, and they never know if they're coming back alive or dead".

Yep, I did that.

How did the high school girl working behind the register react to that?

[Moksha]

An online motorpool soldier noted this:

To retrofit each tank for the event, 50,000 dollars each to put the soft padding on the tracks, note that it will be discarded after the event because they are a one-use pad.

[Some Schmo]

I watched replay footage on various youtube channels of the parade...tanks, military marching and all. What really made me sad (among other things---I've got a list going over here) is that our military was out there in parade and I didn't see spectators along the roads even cheering for them. I wish people would have at least celebrated them. I don't think they enjoy parade and especially not in heavy uniforms in the East Coast heat. But of course, there they were following orders, having practiced and all...and no one really cheered for them.

I just wish people appreciated our military more than they seem to or even knew more about what they do*. I better stop before I go into a rant that won't quit. I'm practicing self restraint. How'm I doing?

I understand the sentiment, but I imagine the main reason people weren't cheering (other than, as I heard, it was a pretty lackluster affair) is that they aren't used to the the military being used as a prop in this country (unless you include the flyovers before football games, and I suppose I do).

Just looking at the photos, I find it depressing. We aren't damned North Korea (not yet, anyway).