Unexpectedly but luckily, I was in town for the epic Fourth of July celebration
of America's 250th birthday! Despite the heat, the day was extraordinary.
➤ The day featured a remarkable array of military aviation.
➤ The
evening had a fireworks display so big that it broke the world record!
Military aircraft flew low over my building, heading east toward the National
Mall. Above is a squadron of copters over the capital.
Late in the afternoon, I got to see and photograph the most dramatic aircraft
of all — the huge B-2 Spirit "flying wing" stealth bomber.
Below is a partial list of the day's aircraft:
- Air Force Thunderbirds (F-16 Fighting Falcon)
- Navy Blue Angels (F/A-18E/F Super Hornet)
- F-35 Lightning II (USMC & USN)
- F/A-18 Super Hornet / F-18F (USN)
- B-52H Stratofortress (USAF)
- UH-60 / UH-60V Black Hawk (US Army)
- MV-22 Osprey (USMC)
- U.S. Coast Guard helicopters (and fixed-wing aircraft)
- Plus, the new VC-25 (Air Force One)
- And more!
Tri‑bomber flyover — B‑2 Spirit with two B‑1 Lancers — right above my
neighborhood. (Video taken during July 3 rehearsals.)
Neighbors in my building watched from 102° balconies or from 72° living
rooms.
Speaking of neighbors, I joined some down the hall for a small, friendly
gathering in an apartment packed with flags, stars, and red, white, and blue.
For the first time, along with two land locations, eight barges were arrayed
down the Potomac as platforms for massive simultaneous fireworks.
The barrage of fireworks was relentless. Forty minutes were promised, and they
delivered every minute!
We saw a record-setting total of 850,000 pyrotechnic shells!
I've seen lots of fireworks over the years and thought I’d become somewhat
desensitized to them. Not quite the thrill they used to be. However, these
breathtaking DC fireworks were unparalleled in scale and spectacle.
ChatGPT tells me that only in 2019 (celebrating Apollo 11) were images previously projected
on the Washington Monument. But since the start of 2026,
sophisticated mapping (using dozens of high-powered projectors) has been used
periodically to celebrate the semiquincentennial year.
The next afternoon I walked over to the Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo
Jima), always a good place for reflections and thanks.
