On the eve of President Obama’s surprise visit to Afghanistan over Memorial Day weekend, New Yorkers flocked to Eisenhower Park for an air show and meet-and-greet with the men and women who have borne the brunt of the nation’s last 12 years at war.
That era may now be coming to an end. On Wednesday, Obama stood before a cheering crowd at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point as he declared the cadets “the first class to graduate since 9/11 who may not be sent into combat in Iraq or Afghanistan.”
It was in that spirit that New York celebrated Fleet Week, held nearly every year since 1984.