Armed Forces Day celebrates unification, readiness
Published 9:30 am Friday, May 20, 2016
- Corporal Aaron Wagner hugs his mother Melissa Wagner after returning home from his deployment in Kuwait.
Armed Forces Day is celebrated annually on the third Saturday of May. The holiday was created in August of 1949, by U.S. Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson to replace the separate Army, Navy and Air Force Days. This celebration “stemmed from the unification of the Armed Forces under one department – the Department of Defense”, according to the Department of Defense.
President Harry Truman stated “Armed Forces Day…marks the first combined demonstration by America’s defense team of its progress, under the National Security Act, towards the goal of readiness for any eventuality. It is the first parade of preparedness by the unified forces of our land, sea, and air defense.”
The first Armed Forces Day, in 1950, was celebrated with parades, receptions and air shows.
