Vice President JD Vance took the stage to sustained applause at an event Saturday at Camp Pendleton celebrating 250 years of the U.S. Marine Corps. Vance served in the Marines and led the crowd in a call-and-response round of "Oorahs."
The estimated 15,000 in attendance — 99 out of every 100 in uniform — stood for the duration of Vance's speech. The event, "From Sea to Shore, an Amphibious Assault Demonstration," began at noon and ran through the afternoon.
Vance took time to acknowledge the ongoing government shutdown, blaming congressional Democrats for prolonging it and placing military pay in jeopardy.
"As I told the president just a couple of days ago, I said, 'Sir, we have got to pay these Marines both for their sake but also, of course, because if we don't pay our enlisted Marines every bar in Southern California is going to go out of business,'" Vance said.
Most of Vance's speech was about his pride in serving in the Marine Corps and the values he says that service instills in everyone who serves.
"My service in the Marine Corps was a huge part of my life," Vance said. "I would not be here today — I would not be the vice president of the United States ... were it not for those four years that I served in the Marine Corps.
Vance also took time to criticize leaders he said try to politicize the military.
"When officials try to shift focus to mandating diversity quotas, or they try to inject partisan politics into the American Armed Forces, they impede the Marine Corps' ability to do its best work," Vance said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also addressed the crowd. His comments were a lightened version of ones he made two weeks ago to hundreds of generals, admirals and senior enlisted personnel.
But instead of scolding the Marines and sailors in the audience, he complimented them on their high physical fitness standards.
Hegseth bemoaned the so-called "wokeness" he said plagued the military before Donald Trump was elected president the second time.
"I look out at this crowd, I see a lot of different types of faces," Hegseth said. "The truth is, your diversity is not your strength — never has been. Your strength is your unity of purpose."
Navy Secretary John Phelan, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle and Marine commandant Gen. Eric Smith each gave short speeches.
Earlier in the day at Del Mar Beach on Camp Pendleton, a Marine Corps brass band played jazz standards while thousands of Marines and sailors wearing camouflage mingled under the bright midday sun.
An amphibious demonstration was conducted at Red Beach, out of sight and hearing range of the thousands seated miles away at an event venue near the Camp Pendleton Boat Basin.
The demonstration included firing artillery from a base beach into the base's firing ranges, the Marines said.
"Marines will fire 155 mm high-explosive rounds from M777 howitzers," the Marines said in a statement Thursday. "The M777 will fire into designated ranges with all safety precautions in place."
Video crews captured the action as Navy SEALs, Recon Marines and a Battalion Landing Team took the beach. Sound from the landing was piped in but otherwise the crowd watched the action on one of two video screens. The quiet was punctuated occasionally by F/A-18 Hornet and helicopter flyovers.
Thousands of Marines were required to attend. After three hours in the sun, KPBS observed several dozing off or sleeping during the demonstration.
Outside the base, Interstate 5 sat quiet — devoid of traffic after an early-morning decision to close the freeway for four hours during the event.
In a statement Saturday morning California Gov. Gavin Newson said the decision to close the section of the interstate "comes at the recommendation of traffic safety experts at the California Highway Patrol." He called the live fire exercise an "absurd show of force."
The artillery demonstration also riled Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano, who said it posed a safety risk.
"Unfortunately, reports confirming that artillery will be fired over Interstate 5 — requiring full freeway and rail closures — have caused understandable frustration throughout the surrounding community," Levin said in a statement Saturday. "These actions pose unnecessary safety risks and significant disruptions for residents, businesses and first responders."
