The March That Made Me Proud to be American

I watched with genuine admiration on Saturday as President Trump’s military parade made its way down Constitution Avenue. It was a powerful performance. As someone who came to America in search of freedom from oppression, I was deeply moved by this tribute to the nation’s military heritage.

For years, millions of Americans have watched with growing unease as our cultural institutions have pushed narratives that have painted the country in the worst possible light. Many sensed something was wrong, but felt powerless to respond. Trump understands this, instinctively. The parade was a direct appeal to the public, bypassing the usual gatekeepers, offering a different story: one of pride, strength, and continuity.

The media predictably rushed to condemn it. They called it wasteful, authoritarian, and a dangerous display of power. NBC News declared that “turmoil at home and abroad” undercut the celebration. Nonsense. President Trump is standing firm with our ally Israel and showing Iran’s evil dictatorship what real American resolve looks like.

We saw 7,000 troops marching in formation, 150 military vehicles, and equipment that told the story of 250 years of American military history. From the ragtag militias of the Revolutionary War to today’s highly trained forces, these men and women stand in a tradition of service that stretches across generations. They’ve worn different uniforms, carried different weapons, and fought on different terrain. But the common thread is sacrifice, not for conquest, but in defense of a nation founded on the ideals of liberty, self-rule, and human dignity.

The $45 million cost sparked outrage among critics, claiming it to be a waste of taxpayer money. But what is the price of national pride? I ask you to compare that to the billions we send in foreign aid to regimes that resent us, to the endless spending on social programs that fail to deliver results, and to the swollen budgets of federal agencies that often seem to work against American interests. $45 million to honor our military seems like an excellent investment.

The protesters who filled the streets under the “No Kings” banner missed the point entirely. They demonstrated precisely the freedom that America’s military has fought to preserve. They could march, chant, carry signs, voice their dissent — all protected by the very soldiers they were protesting. That irony was likely lost on them, but not on the nation’s leader.

President Trump referred to America as “the hottest country in the world right now”. There is no better place for someone seeking opportunity, freedom, and the chance to build a life with dignity. The United Kingdom is mired in economic stagnation and cultural confusion. France swings between unrest and paralysis, lurching from protests to political crisis. Germany faces a demographic collapse and industrial decline it can no longer deny. In varying degrees, these once-stable nations are unraveling. Against that backdrop, America still shines, not because it’s perfect, but because it’s resilient. It’s still the place where reinvention is possible and the future isn’t something to fear.

Saturday’s parade was a reminder of that resilience. It traced the Army’s remarkable journey, from its founding during the Revolution, when ordinary colonists dared to challenge the most powerful empire on earth. These citizen-soldiers built a nation founded on the belief that all people possess inherent rights.

That legacy, however, has been under siege. For nearly twenty years, Americans who love their country have felt pushed to the margins by institutions that no longer seem committed to honoring the nation’s founding vision. Universities now teach that America’s very identity is rooted in oppression. Museums have turned into ideological battlegrounds, recasting the Founding Fathers as little more than slaveholders and sinners. Major news networks treat patriotism as a punchline, with hosts mocking flags, anthems, and anyone who still believes this country is worth celebrating. But it is worth celebrating, and not in some vague, sentimental way.

Think about what America’s military has accomplished. These are the men and women who stormed the beaches of Normandy to defeat European fascism, who stood firm during the Cold War as the Soviet Union expanded across continents, who airlifted food into starving Berlin, evacuated refugees from Saigon, pursued warlords in Somalia, and rescued children from the rubble in Haiti. They’ve delivered aid in Pakistan, confronted terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, and responded, again and again, when disasters have struck and no one else could or would.

When freedom is under threat, people don’t look to Brussels, nor do they wait for Beijing. They look to Washington. There is only one shining city on a hill. Not one of many, just one. That phrase, first spoken by John Winthrop and later echoed by Ronald Reagan, was a responsibility, and a challenge to be better, and to stand for something higher. America would remain a North Star, not because of its power, but because of its principles.

On Saturday, beneath clear skies and the steady rhythm of marching drums, that city shone a little brighter. It reminded a divided country and a restless world that the flame is still alive.