There will be tanks, parachute jumps, flyovers and, of course, a cameo from MAGA crooner Lee Greenwood.
But the star of Saturday’s military parade marking the Army’s 250th anniversary – and President Donald Trump‘s birthday – could be a two-year-old Blue Heeler named Private Doc Holliday.
This dog named Doc – named after Wyatt Earp’s buddy made famous by the 1881 O.K. Corral shootout portrayed in the movie Tombstone – is part of the Texas-based 1st Cavalry Division of the U.S. Army.
He’s twice appeared in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California.
Altogether, the 1st Cavalry Division is bringing 14 horses, two mules and Doc Holliday to giddy-up and strut down Constitution Avenue Saturday evening if all goes according to plan.
On Thursday weather reports appeared to put Saturday’s parade, which will kick off at 6:30 p.m., in jeopardy.
A Pentagon source confirmed to the Daily Mail that if there’s lightning in the area the parade will have to be canceled or postponed.
A White House spokesperson pressed that some show would go on.
WHO LET THE DOGS OUT? Private Doc Holliday will be one of the stars of the show during Saturday’s military parade marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, which falls on President Donald Trump’s birthday
1st Cavalry Division Horse Detachment mascot Private Doc Holliday stands with his handler Friday in Herndon, Virginia after arriving from Texas ahead of Saturday’s military parade
‘Any changes to the Army Birthday Parade will be announced by the Department of Defense of America 250 Commission. No matter what, a historic celebration of our military servicemembers will take place!’ deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said to the Daily Mail.
The Weather Channel’s current forecast for Saturday in Washington calls for cloudy skies in the morning with thunderstorms developing later in the day.
‘The weather is being closely monitored and taken into consideration, but at this point nothing has changed. If there are any changes in the future we will notify you as soon as possible,’ Army spokesperson Heather Hagan told the Daily Mail early Friday morning.
The parade itself will only last an hour – with a concert planned directly afterward followed by a fireworks display over the National Mall.
Trump has long wanted to have a military-style parade, after seeing France’s Bastille Day festivities, which also marked the U.S.’s 100th anniversary of entering World War I, in July of 2017.
During his first term he was dissuaded from holding one over cost concerns.
The tanks are likely to beat up Washington, D.C.’s roads – and the federal government would need to pay district taxpayers back for the damage.
Instead, in 2019, the president held a ‘Salute to America’ on the Fourth of July in front of the Lincoln Memorial, where tanks were on display, and several flyovers occurred.
One of the two mules that are part of Doc Holliday’s 1st Cavalry Division photographed Friday in Herndon, Virginia ahead of Saturday’s parade
Private Doc Holliday is named after Wyatt Earp’s buddy made famous by the 1881 O.K. Corral shootout portrayed in the movie Tombstone 1st Cavalry Division including two mules and
THE BEST BOY: Doc Holliday will be joined in the parade by other members of the Texas-based 1st Cavalry Division, which is bringing 14 horses and two mules
Doc Holliday watches one of the horses that’s also part of the Texas-based 1st Cavalry Division, appearing in the Army’s 250th annivesary parade on Saturday
It drizzled that day, but the event was able to go on.
Saturday’s event kicks off more than a year’s worth of events ahead of the United States celebrating its sesquicentennial – as it will have been 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The Army formed more than a year before the document’s signing.
Trump has been previewing the parade and the Army’s anniversary all week.
He visited Fort Bragg on Tuesday where he cheered on the troops – and also made the shocking announcement that he was reverting the names of seven military bases to those based off of Confederate soldiers, including Gen. Robert E. Lee.
The president has also threatened potential protesters – as demonstrations have broken out in cities all over the country over his ‘mass deportation’ plans.
In the Oval Office on Tuesday he said, ‘by the way, for those people who want to protest, they are going to be met with very big force.’
‘And I haven’t even heard about a protest, but you know this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force,’ the president added.
Private Doc Holliday poses alongside several of the horses that are part of the Texas-based 1st Cavalry
A reviewing stand being set up this week for Saturday’s military parade, which coincides with President Donald Trump’s birthday
On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had to defend Trump and say that he supported the First Amendment, which gives Americans the right to assemble peacefully and to protest.
An organization called ‘No Kings’ is organizing demonstrations across the country on June 14th, the day of the military parade.
‘No Kings’ planners have pushed potential demonstrators to not take to the streets in D.C. – where there is already a robust security response.
The White House, Capitol and certain roadways have been outlined with fencing ahead of Saturday’s events.
Instead ‘No Kings’ organizers have encouraged people to protest in Philadelphia or in suburban Maryland and Virginia, instead of D.C. proper.
Some Democrats have also pushed like-minded people online to RSVP for the military parade, only to be no-shows, so Trump’s crowds aren’t as robust as the president would like.
A similar tactic was organized during Trump’s controversial 2020 Tulsa rally, which was held indoors amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with many seats left empty.
