Local Man Gets to See Tanks, Eat Ice Cream at Trump's 4th of July Celebration

URBANDALE, IA - Making the nearly 1,100-mile journey to be front-and-center for President Trump's "Salute you to America" parade and fireworks extravaganza this July 4th, local man Patrick Lupke called the experience, "Really neat."

"There were fighter jets and tanks and real-life soldiers and all kinds of stuff," Lupke said. "Also, I had an ice cream cone and a whole big bag of popcorn all to myself."

Lupke, a retired public school administrator who has called Urbandale home for more than 40 years, had a hard time making up his mind on which part of the event he liked best.

"The tanks were really cool up close, but then when the fighter jets flew over and we're all, 'VROOOOOM!' and went all like this-" he described, using his hands to demonstrate the synchronized flight pattern the planes took - "that was also really neat," he remarked.

Continued Lupke: "But then there was also President Trump, who is definitely my favorite President ever, and then the fireworks!"

"The fireworks all went 'BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!' way up in the sky," he said.

Lupke, who said he would definitely like to return to the Capitol for next year's festivities, finally decided that the ice cream was his favorite.