Fourth of July fireworks shuttered at key military bases

Money woes have led at least three military bases to cancel Fourth of July fireworks, a move that will save up to $100,000, one general estimated.

Among the bases that are canceling the shows, the Army Times reported: Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base and the Army’s Fort Bragg, both in North Carolina; the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Ga.; Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina; Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii; and New Jersey’s Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

Brig. Gen. Thomas Gorry at Camp Lejeune said that the canceled show would “ensure that we can mitigate the fiscal challenges we are currently facing” and that last year’s July Fourth show cost the base about $100,000.

But not everyone is applauding the cost-cutting move, likening it to a Christmas without Santa.

“I know fireworks might seem silly to other people,” said one woman whose husband is a master gunnery sergeant. “But what is the Fourth of July without fireworks? It’s just a bummer for the kids. It’s like the Grinch stealing Christmas.”