A Look Back at the Last Major U.S. National Military Parade in 1991

To mark the 250th anniversary of the United States Army, Washington D.C. will play host to a national military parade on Saturday, June 14. The date also falls in line with President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, but the U.S. Army has said it has no plans to mark the occasion alongside the parade. Either way, the President is still expected to play a significant role in the celebrations.

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But the event comes at a highly precarious time, amid nationwide protests which started in Los Angeles when people rallied against raids conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). After some of the protests descended into violence, Trump controversially deployed the National Guard and active-duty Marines to L.A. to quell the demonstrations. The move was made without a request from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has taken legal action against the Trump Administration.

Amid backlash, the “No Kings” movement is expected to hold nationwide protests against Trump on Saturday, including in Arlington, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

Speaking at the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump warned against people who planned to protest at the upcoming parade, telling reporters: “For those who want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force.”

Even prior to the recent escalated tension over immigration efforts, Trump’s decision to hold the parade received criticism, especially from some Democratic lawmakers.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, who is an Iraq War veteran, has called it an “egotistical, nonsensical birthday parade.” While Sen. Adam Schiff of California described it as a “dictator-style military parade” and accused Trump of spending millions of tax dollars to throw himself a “birthday party.”

The upcoming parade is expected to cost around $45 million, including $16 million in damages to roads after tanks and other heavy vehicles tour the streets of Washington. It’s set to be a grand affair, involving an estimated 6,500 U.S. troops, 150 vehicles, and 50 aircraft.

This is the first major national military parade in the U.S. since 1991. President George H. W. Bush held the event on June 8 that year, after the U.S. led a successful coalition in the Gulf War.

As the U.S. gets ready for Trump’s much-discussed June 14 military parade, here’s everything you need to know about the last one that took place 34 years ago.

Why exactly was the 1991 military parade held?

The parade was held to celebrate the military success of the U.S.-led coalition in the Gulf War, which came to a conclusion in late February. The first phase of the war, named Operation Desert Shield, involved a military and personnel coalition in Saudi Arabia from August 1990 to January 1991, hashed out on the border with Kuwait which had been invaded by Iraq, under the eye of Saddam Hussein.

On Jan. 17, 1991, the war entered its second phase, Operation Desert Storm, in which the U.S-led coalition orchestrated an aerial and naval bombardment of Iraqi forces in Kuwait. This was followed by a ground operation, which lasted for five days, concluding on Feb. 28, with Kuwait liberated and Iraqi forces expelled.

On the evening that Desert Storm began, President Bush addressed the nation in a speech from the Oval Office, saying: “I’ve told the American people before that this will not be another Vietnam, and I repeat this here tonight. Our troops will have the best possible support in the entire world, and they will not be asked to fight with one hand tied behind their back.”

He added: “This is an historic moment. We have in this past year made great progress in ending the long era of conflict and cold war. We have before us the opportunity to forge for ourselves and for future generations a new world order.”

But it wasn’t only the Gulf War occupying the minds of Americans during the 1991 military parade.

Bill Allison, a professor of history at Georgia Southern University, says that the legacy of the Vietnam War, which ended in April 1975, was still very much felt.

“Vietnam was looming large in that rear-view mirror. Vietnam veterans didn’t get a parade and the war was a hot mess,” he says. “[For symbolic reasons], there was also a group of Vietnam veterans invited to march in the 1991 parade and as Bush said, ‘We’ve kicked the Vietnam syndrome.’”

Connor Williams, a professor of history at Yale, says that this campaign changed the American mindset on the military. “Desert Shield and Desert Storm provided a relationship with the military that had not been seen in a generation… The incredible swiftness and completeness of that victory left a lot to celebrate,” he notes.

The Gulf War was also the first major conflict in which the U.S. deployed a fully voluntary military force after conscriptions in both World Wars, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. 

“For the United States, [the parade] was a testament to the volunteer work force and that had been a very risky move at the time,” says Allison.

How much did the 1991 military parade cost?

The parade is estimated to have cost around $12 million, which adjusted for inflation, translates to roughly £28 million today.  

An estimated $5 million dollars in 1991 was raised by the volunteer Homecoming Foundation, established to support military personnel returning from the Gulf and to help coordinate the parade. Around 700 foundation volunteers were also present to help the clean-up operation.

Although, with roughly 8,000 troops marching through the streets of the nation’s capital, the show of military might attracted a far smaller crowd than expected. Only 200,000 showed up to the parade early in the day, with numbers peaking later in the evening, when around 800,000 were present for the glittering fireworks display.

Was there criticism of the 1991 military parade?

Whilst there were some, such as anti-war protesters and people concerned about the cost, who voiced disapproval over the parade, there didn’t appear to be too much criticism from lawmakers, according to historians.

“One thing that will always unite politicians is supporting the troops, [even though] there’s different opinions on how the troops should be supported,” Williams says, adding that this sentiment can change if there is no notable military success to honor.

“In 1991, it was very much a campaign event for everybody. The salute Bush exchanged with Norman Schwarzkopf [a U.S. Army General during the Gulf War] was highly photographed. There was a [presidential] election the next year and there was a lot of B-roll happening because Bush and Democratic leaders wanted to be seen shaking hands and supporting the troops,” Williams says.

The only significant demonstration was a group of anti-war activists delivering speeches in Lafayette Park, on the opposite side of the White House to the parade, which went down Constitution Avenue.

In January 1991, during the conflict in Kuwait, thousands of protestors attended multiple anti-war demonstrations, centered around humanitarian worries.

What was the message being sent at the 1991 military parade?

Experts tell TIME that, generally speaking, there are three key reasons behind military parades, including the one held in 1991:

• Celebrating the troops
• Rallying the public
• Sending a message to other countries

“In 1991, it was more about rallying the people and celebrating the troops. To some extent, the U.S. didn’t need to display power like the Soviets did. The power had already been displayed. People had been watching the capability of the U.S. military on the nightly news,” says Williams. “Not everyone [tanks and personnel] rolled down Pennsylvania avenue to give off that effect. It was more a way for people to celebrate what they thought was emerging, a unipolar world.”

As for Trump’s upcoming parade on June 14, Williams says that it ‘will be interesting” to see how U.S. strength is displayed anew. “Will it be demonstrated in a peaceful way or in attack mode? How will the people respond?”

That remains to be seen.