Armed Forces Day

In 1953 President Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote these still true words:

“It is fitting and proper that we devote one day each year to paying special tribute to those whose constancy and courage constitute one of the bulwarks guarding the freedom of this nation and the peace of the free world.”

President Eisenhower was referring to Armed Forces Day. Four years earlier, President Harry S. Truman had led the efforts to create the holiday for citizens to come together and give thanks to the men and women who protect our freedoms everyday. On August 31, 1949, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced the creation of Armed Forces Day.

This single-day celebration replaced the separate holidays that honored the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. This consolidation stemmed from the unification of the Armed Forces under one department,­ the Department of Defense. On the very first Armed Forces Day celebration in 1950, President Truman declared that the 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.”

Ever since then we have celebrated Armed Forces Day on the third Saturday in May during war or peace. All branches of the Military have open house for civilians to come and learn more about what it means to serve in the military today. To find out what's going on in your area this Armed Forces Day, check your local paper, or call the Public Information Office at your closest military installation.

“... Our Servicemen and women are serving throughout the world as guardians of peace — many of them away from their homes, their friends and their families. They are visible evidence of our determination to meet any threat to the peace with measured strength and high resolve. They are also evidence of a harsh but inescapable truth — that the survival of freedom requires great cost and commitment, and great personal sacrifice.” — President John F. Kennedy, 1963