Every Memorial Day, DC plays a cruel trick on veterans and their fanclubs as hundreds of thousands of people stream into the city to participate in Rolling Thunder, the National Memorial Day Parade, or the many other related events around town. And instead of some lovely spring weather, these poor people are assaulted by the first horrific heat wave of the season, complete with a blazing sun frying their pasty skin, and both an official Heat Advisory and Hyperthermia alert. I didn’t see anyone passed out on the National Mall, but I wouldn’t be surprised if many people got heatstroke today. After all these veterans have been through, do we really have to ask them (and us) to go through this kind of torture every year? Or is this our penance for benefiting from their sacrifice?

Please stay cool, bagpipe dudes!

So many marching bands, and all we can think is, “God, that must be unbearable.”

Look familiar? I think these guys show up to every parade in the DC area, regardless of the occasion.

The future is now. A 1980s Mustang is an official parade car.

Dance move or blocking the sun in their eyes? You decide!

Our official celebrity face of all things Memorial Day: Gary Sinise and HBO, neither of whom ever spent a day in the military.

Does this have something to do with the Gulf War? I have no idea.

Um, this truck and the music coming out of it were terrifying. Courtesy of some South Vietnam organization.

And don’t forget it, ungrateful civilians!