Trying to find information for this column reminded me once again why I enjoy research so much. Not!
While checking my trusty and oft-used VFW calendar to see what militarily significant date near Aug. 18 might be appropriate to write about, I noticed, in fine print at the bottom of the date box for Aug. 19, that tomorrow is National Aviation Day.
I’d never noticed that before and decided to check it out. I’m sorry I did. On the August calendar were seven entries, the least except for January with five and June with four. The other August entries were Air Force Day, Aug. 1, which makes no sense as the U.S. Air Force celebrates Sep. 18, the date it was established.
The U. S. Coast Guard was established Aug. 4, 1790, the Purple Heart Medal was established on Aug. 7, 1782 but not as a wound award, Japan surrendered on Aug. 14, 1945, National Airborne Day, another one I’d not heard about, is Aug. 16, and Women’s Equality Day, which you’ll read about next week, is Aug. 26.
It seems fitting that National Airborne Day and National Aviation Day are in the same week as it takes aviation to make airborne work. But I know of no connection of either airborne nor aviation to August.
My first check was the ever-reliable Associated Press Style Book. But there was no entry under national day or days, and nothing for aviation. Bummer.
On to another reliable source, Mr. Webster’s Dictionary. No listing under national days nor National Aviation Day. In the back of the book were pages and pages of abbreviations and symbols for chemical elements, foreign words and phrases, biographical names, geographical names, and signs and symbols, but nary a heading for national days. Bummer.
Most of my other reference sources are for military happenings, and although airplanes have been used by armies since WW I that would have no bearing on why there is an Aviation National Day.
That led to my thinking that the day might be one for purely civilian aviation. But if so, why would it be on the VFW calendar?
As a sort of last resort I checked a huge 956-page reference book “Chronicle of America” that a kind reader gave me a few years ago. No dice. No Aviation National Day listed even in that monster.
So it seems that even with a few thousand books that cover almost every topic under the sun, and a few in the shade, I can but tell you that tomorrow is listed as National Aviation Day but can’t tell you when that designation was made nor why, nor by whom.
But for all of you out there who are pilots, flight attendants, ground crew personnel, or any other job or hobby related to aviation, present or past, tomorrow sounds like your day. I just can’t tell you what to do tomorrow, and for sure it is not a national holiday. So those of you in the work-a-day world be sure to get up and trudge off to your place of business.
But if you are outside and an aircraft happens to fly over, it is OK to pause a moment in honor of the men and women who ply the skies in those big shiny aircraft and remember that tomorrow is their day.
John Reichley is a retired Army officer and retired Department of the Army civilian employee.
