Latest news with #FortBragg
Wall Street Journal
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Standards Slip at Fort Bragg
'On Display at D.C.'s Parade: Tanks, Drones and the Military's Identity Crisis' (Review, June 14) cites President Trump's speech at Fort Bragg in which he used a group of soldiers as stage props in a piece of political theater. The authors refer to it as 'a breach of traditional decorum.' I believe it is an egregious violation of U.S. military standards of conduct. Our armed forces have sedulously separated themselves from partisan politics—and soldiers on duty, in uniform, booing or cheering remarks in a blatantly political speech are acting in contravention to those standards. One might note that politicians don't campaign on military installations; nor should they. That a politician would use soldiers in this way is profoundly disrespectful to the Constitution and to the troops who are sworn to defend it. It appears that refresher training in standards of conduct would be in order at Fort Bragg. Moreover, someone might inform the president of what type of speech or behavior is appropriate for uniformed military audiences.
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
11 young men will be presented at Alpha Phi Alpha's annual beautillion on Fort Bragg
A Fayetteville fraternity is hosting a beautillion next month on Fort Bragg, featuring 11 young men from the Eastern North Carolina region. The Epsilon Rho Lambda Chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity is hosting the beautillion at 7 p.m. July 12 in the Iron Mike Convention Center on Fort Bragg. The theme of the event is "Fantastic Voyage: The Journey from Beaus to Men." Tickets are $60 and can be purchased online at According to a news release, the students from Cumberland, Hoke and Harnett counties who will be presented during the ceremony are: Chris Baring, son of Christina McAllister, Northwood Temple Academy in Fayetteville Nigel Cooper, son of Niakeya and Marvin Cooper, Jack Britt High School in Fayetteville Christian DeWitt, son of Kacheckia and Maurice DeWitt, Lee Early College in Sanford Jeremiah Headley, son of Cathy Headley, Hoke County High School in Raeford Terrell Jackson, son of Terrell Jackson and Sherice Alford, Berean Baptist Academy in Fayetteville Cayden McKoy, son of Carolyn and Clifton McKoy, Overhills High School in Spring Lake Mekhi Moreland, son of Teonte' Thomas and Moe Green, Cape Fear High School in Fayetteville Arrington Richardson, son of Vertis Richardson and Laquanda Gipson, Massey Hill Classical High School in Fayetteville Xavier Scott, son of Joyce Burgess, SandHoke Early College High School Zion Welch, son of Tracy Welch and Kevin Johnson, Pine Forest High School in Fayetteville Tony Woodard, son of Monique McLeod, E.E. Smith High School in Fayetteville 2024 beaus: 8 young men will be presented at Alpha Phi Alpha's annual beautillion in Fayetteville Alpha Phi Alpha was the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African American students, the release said. It was founded at Cornell University in 1906. The Epsilon Rho Lambda Chapter was chartered in Fayetteville in 1952, according to the release. The chapter's initiatives have included the March of Dimes Walk for Babies Campaign; scholarships for high school students; feeding the homeless during the holiday season; and volunteer work at the Salvation Army homeless shelter, the release said. Email Jeffery Womble at jmauricewomble@ for more information about the beautillion or the chapter's programs. Public safety reporter Joseph Pierre can be reached at jpierre@ This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Epsilon Rho Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha to hold 2025 beautillion
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nicolle Wallace Unloads on Trump's ‘Perverted' Military Parade
MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace called out Donald Trump for 'gleefully and brazenly using troops as pawns' ahead of the big big military parade that will mark his 79th birthday Saturday, Wallace, guest-hosting Pod Save America with former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau on Friday, discussed 'the North Korean-style birthday party' Trump has 'wanted for years.' 'This is so perverted from what's normal,' Wallace said of Trump's usurping the Army's 250th birthday for his own celebration. As Trump's team reportedly screened the military members in the audience for allegiance and physical appearance ahead of his Fort Bragg speech Tuesday, Wallace wondered aloud, 'Who else is being vetted? Who else is being staged? Who else is being pushed out of the picture for being fat? I mean, what else is really happening there?' Trump's military parade is expected to take place Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET. The president's birthday celebration will cost taxpayers an estimated $45 million, but Wallace said Trump's 'perversion' of the non-partisan military will cost Americans more than just tax dollars long-term. 'I think that we probably only see the tip of the iceberg,' she said. The Fort Bragg speech, which served as a 'pre-celebration' of sorts for the president, featured men and women in uniform booing Democrats. Wallace, a former communications director for George W. Bush, reflected on the traditional separation of politics from the U.S. military. 'You and I both wrote speeches for presidents that were delivered in front of troops,' she said. 'You're cognizant that the applause lines don't have anything to do with your president's policies because you don't want them to look like they have to applaud a policymaker.' 'You craft the speeches so that there's only an applause when you're celebrating the men and women of the military, either their current courage or their historic greatness,' she continued. For Trump to have encouraged and cherry-picked uniformed military members into a divisive display of loyalty to one side is troubling, Wallace said, but not surprising. 'To see this event at Fort Bragg and to see the way they are gleefully and brazenly using troops as pawns—the greatest victim of that is the troops, is the military,' she said. 'And I think it's actually shocking that the Republican senators are complicit.' Wallace went on to express little hope that any Republican lawmakers will speak out. 'Where are the people who are still willing to sort of put their body between brazen partisanship and the military?' she asked. 'In the Republican Party, there aren't any.' 'Even the former generals are afraid to speak out, or restrained from speaking out,' Wallace said, but she maintained that she will not be keeping quiet. 'I'm not not scared. I just don't think it makes me safer to be quiet,' she explained. 'I feel that way as a cable host. I'm not not concerned that they're not looking for anyone in the media to make a mistake and then come after the media. I just don't think you're in a safer posture in a defensive crouch.'
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Trump's military parade was feared to be the stuff of authoritarians. It was more small-town July 4
Some feared that Donald Trump's military parade would bring a touch of North Korea to the nation's capital. The sight of tanks rolling into the city in the same week the president deployed the troops to quell protests and delivered a deeply political speech to soldiers at Fort Bragg did little to alleviate those fears. But when the day came, it was something closer to a medium-sized town's July 4th celebration. There were families, picnics, bad weather and small crowds. There were no 20-foot missiles or long lines of intimidating military hardware. The sparse crowds that did turn out were instead treated to a history lesson about the U.S. Army to celebrate its 250th birthday (it also happened, by pure coincidence, to be Trump's 79th birthday). As a regiment or unit would parade by, a voiceover told the crowd its history, and that same booming voice would intermittently follow up with a word for a sponsor. 'With thanks to our sponsor, Lockheed Martin,' the voice said after a touching tribute to the 1st Cavalry Division. Next, the same voice thanked the crypto platform Coinbase. Somewhere in the field behind, an energy drink company co-owned by Dana White, a friend of the president, was handing out free cans with the words 'screamin' freedom' on the front. The darker military parades that have become synonymous with tyrannical regimes around the world don't take breaks for corporate sponsors, nor do they sell pretzels, or have cooling tents. As Trump's favorite crooner Lee Greenwood took to the stage at sundown to sing 'God Bless the U.S.A,' the event took on a feel closer to Las Vegas than Pyongyang. More kitsch than threatening. But this event was more political than many Americans will be comfortable with. And even those who couldn't criticize the occasion doubted Trump's motives. 'This is the kind of thing that Stalin would have done. This is the kind of thing North Korea does. It sickens me that we're putting on this display just for one man's ego,' said Donna Stork, 73, who came from Hagerstown, Maryland, to protest. 'I have no problems with the Army having a celebration,' she said. 'What I do have a problem with is the implication that this is more about Trump and military might than it is about the 250th anniversary of people who fought and died for our country.' Paul Scott, a Trump supporter who came from Dallas with his wife to watch the parade, did not appreciate the comparisons. 'You're a part of the tired media. We are exhausted with you,' he said. 'Go yell at everybody you want to yell at. We love hearing that you personally think that Donald Trump is North Korea's dictator. You're insane, not me.' Tanks, armored personnel carriers and artillery rumbled down Constitution Avenue, a rare sight in the U.S., which has rarely in modern history had to prove its military strength to anyone. Trump's parade was planned long ago, but it happened to come at the end of an eventful week in which the president trampled norms and tested laws governing his control of the U.S. military. He dispatched troops to Los Angeles to handle relatively minor protests and threatened to do the same to cities across the country. He gave a deeply politicized speech to soldiers at Fort Bragg, during which he criticized political opponents to the cheers of the enlisted behind him. After all that, Saturday's parade seemed like a relatively tame use of the world's most powerful military force. For many, though, especially veterans, it was a chance to pay tribute to their fallen comrades and to receive thanks for their own service. 'I retired from the Army 30 years ago and I came to honor all the people that came before me, all the friends that I've lost,' said Van Beal, 70, who first joined the Army in 1978, 'and just to be here because it's only going to be one 250th, so it's a wonderful opportunity.'
The Independent
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Trump's military parade was feared to be the stuff of authoritarians. It was more small-town July 4
Some feared that Donald Trump's military parade would bring a touch of North Korea to the nation's capital. The sight of tanks rolling into the city in the same week the president deployed the troops to quell protests and delivered a deeply political speech to soldiers at Fort Bragg did little to alleviate those fears. But when the day came, it was something closer to a medium-sized town's July 4th celebration. There were families, picnics, bad weather and small crowds. There were no 20-foot missiles or long lines of intimidating military hardware. The sparse crowds that did turn out were instead treated to a history lesson about the U.S. Army to celebrate its 250th birthday (it also happened, by pure coincidence, to be Trump's 79th birthday). As a regiment or unit would parade by, a voiceover told the crowd its history, and that same booming voice would intermittently follow up with a word for a sponsor. 'With thanks to our sponsor, Lockheed Martin,' the voice said after a touching tribute to the 1st Cavalry Division. Next, the same voice thanked the crypto platform Coinbase. Somewhere in the field behind, an energy drink company co-owned by Dana White, a friend of the president, was handing out free cans with the words 'screamin' freedom' on the front. The darker military parades that have become synonymous with tyrannical regimes around the world don't take breaks for corporate sponsors, nor do they sell pretzels, or have cooling tents. As Trump's favorite crooner Lee Greenwood took to the stage at sundown to sing 'God Bless the U.S.A,' the event took on a feel closer to Las Vegas than Pyongyang. More kitsch than threatening. But this event was more political than many Americans will be comfortable with. And even those who couldn't criticize the occasion doubted Trump's motives. 'This is the kind of thing that Stalin would have done. This is the kind of thing North Korea does. It sickens me that we're putting on this display just for one man's ego,' said Donna Stork, 73, who came from Hagerstown, Maryland, to protest. 'I have no problems with the Army having a celebration,' she said. 'What I do have a problem with is the implication that this is more about Trump and military might than it is about the 250th anniversary of people who fought and died for our country.' Paul Scott, a Trump supporter who came from Dallas with his wife to watch the parade, did not appreciate the comparisons. 'You're a part of the tired media. We are exhausted with you,' he said. 'Go yell at everybody you want to yell at. We love hearing that you personally think that Donald Trump is North Korea's dictator. You're insane, not me.' Tanks, armored personnel carriers and artillery rumbled down Constitution Avenue, a rare sight in the U.S., which has rarely in modern history had to prove its military strength to anyone. Trump's parade was planned long ago, but it happened to come at the end of an eventful week in which the president trampled norms and tested laws governing his control of the U.S. military. He dispatched troops to Los Angeles to handle relatively minor protests and threatened to do the same to cities across the country. He gave a deeply politicized speech to soldiers at Fort Bragg, during which he criticized political opponents to the cheers of the enlisted behind him. After all that, Saturday's parade seemed like a relatively tame use of the world's most powerful military force. For many, though, especially veterans, it was a chance to pay tribute to their fallen comrades and to receive thanks for their own service. 'I retired from the Army 30 years ago and I came to honor all the people that came before me, all the friends that I've lost,' said Van Beal, 70, who first joined the Army in 1978, 'and just to be here because it's only going to be one 250th, so it's a wonderful opportunity.'
