U.S. Army 250th birthday three-day celebration set to be held in Philadelphia and Valley Forge
Although the vast majority of attention has been directed towards Washington D.C. for the upcoming weekend, the Philadelphia region will be hosting a three-day celebration to mark the U.S. Army's 250th birthday.
The Army was founded in Philadelphia.
Erica Liermann, a retired U.S. Army staff sergeant, is the director of Marketing and Communications for the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) Penn and Franklin Chapters, a non-profit organization.
She said that the weekend is an opportunity to 'celebrate our heritage' and focus on the history that the city has to offer.
'This event is not political,' Liermann said during a joint informational meeting of the state House and Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness committees.
The gathering kicks off on Friday afternoon in Valley Forge and includes a guided tour of the Washington Memorial Chapel, a Medal of Honor Grove tour and wreath laying ceremony. Both are free and open to the public. The final event of the evening will be a cocktail reception that is a ticketed event.
The bulk of the celebration will take place on Saturday in Philadelphia. It begins in the morning with an opening ceremony at Independence Mall that includes a flag-raising ceremony, the national anthem, and remarks from elected officials and military leaders.
A brief military and civilian parade will be held in the early afternoon that features service members, veteran groups, re-enactors, marching bands, and SOCOM Para-Commando Parachute Demonstration. An enlistment ceremony will take place later in the afternoon that will feature 250 new soldiers taking their oath, followed by an Army Field Band Concert.
'We are just turning the city into a party hall,' Liermann said. 'We want everyone to consider everybody family. Everyone is welcome to join, to bring anybody.'
Liermann emphasized that these events, which are free and open to the public, will be family friendly and include rock walls. She also said there will be military and armored vehicles on display, although they will not be rolling down the street.
On Saturday evening, an invitation-only gathering will take place at the 1st City Troop Armory in Philadelphia.
The events wrap up on Sunday morning in Philadelphia with a church service at Christ Church, which will include remarks from the former Under Secretary of the U.S. Army Patrick Murphy, who represented a Bucks County-based district in the U.S. House from 2007-2011. Following mass, there will be a George Washington Commissioning Reenactment on the north side of Independence Hall, a procession to Washington Square, a wreath laying ceremony, and final words to mark the weekend long celebration. All of these events on Sunday are free and open to the public.
Thomas Long is a retired U.S. Army sergeant and organizer for GoArmy250, the group planning the event. He said the celebration is going to be monumental.
'The birthplace of the Army, the birthplace of the Navy, and the birthplace of the Marines are here, the same birthplace as the nation, but we came first,' he said.
Long, a disabled veteran, noted that Saturday is also Flag Day and Philadelphia will host the Navy and Marines 250th birthday celebrations later this year in the fall.
Earlier in the week, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, chairman of the Senate Veterans and Emergency Preparedness Committee and a retired U.S. Army colonel, held an event in Harrisburg honoring the U.S. Army's anniversary. The state House also unanimously adopted a resolution sponsored by state Rep. Jim Haddock (D-Luzerne), designating June 14, 2025, as the '250th Birthday of the United States Army' in the state.
In central Pennsylvania, the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle is opening its new exhibit on Saturday 'This We'll Defend: Celebrating 250 years of Army History.' A spokesperson told the Capital-Star that this museum is free of charge and open to the public.
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