Trump to Spend $30 Million on Veterans Day Military Parade Despite Increase in Number of Homeless Vets
In 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump promised to treat veterans “with dignity, and with the respect they deserve.”
Now, outrage is growing over President Donald Trump’s insistence the U.S. Armed Forces, which are currently engaged in operations around the world, hold a military parade in Washington, D.C. on Veterans Day. And many are calling for the unallocated funds that will be spent on the vanity project – estimates from the Pentagon are in the $30 million range – to be invested in America’s 40,000 homeless veterans instead.
The Pentagon, however – following its Commander-in-Chief’s orders – is marching ahead with plans for the military parade. Trump’s parade, according to CNN national security reporter Ryan Browne, now “will include period uniforms,” along with “airplanes but no tanks.” The tanks, as many have noted, would damage roads.
A Pentagon memo “says the parade will integrate with the annual DC Veterans Day parade and focus on the contributions of US veterans from the Revolutionary War to today with an emphasis on the price of freedom,'” CNN notes.
That memo, below, also states the parade will “highlight the evolution of women Veterans from separate formations in World War II to today’s integrated formations.”
It’s unclear if President Trump has approved the U.S. Military’s plans.
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, under President Barack Obama, from 2010 to January of 2016, there was a 56% decrease in the number of homeless vets. In January of 2017, the number for the first time in seven years increased, by 1.5%, to 40,056.Â
Despite the increase, the Trump administration in late 2017 tried to slash funding for homeless vets, until advocates noticed and stirred up enough support to get the decision reversed.
Many on social media are saying are calling to use the $30 million to help homeless veterans instead:
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Image: Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead/Flickr