What is Armed Forces Day? How it's different from other military holidays
Armed Forces Day is celebrated Saturday, May 17 this year.
The holiday serves as a time to honor serving members of the military as well as those who have previously served, according to the USO.
The holiday is celebrated every year on the third Saturday of May, which falls during National Military Appreciation Month and is shortly after VE Day and shortly before Memorial Day.
Here's what you need to know about Armed Forces Day.
What is the difference between Armed Forces Day and other military holidays?
The difference between Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Armed Forces Day is in who is being honored.
Veterans Day honors those who previously served in war while Memorial Day honors those who died in war.
The USO says the holiday was designed to expand public understanding of what type of job is performed and the role of the military in civilian life.
The holiday covers the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force and Coast Guard. Some military members may bristle at the Coast Guard being included during peacetime, however definitions in the National Security Act of 1947 include the guard in the definition of "Armed Forces."
When was the first Armed Forces Day?
The first Armed Forces Day took place on May 20, 1950.
When President Harry Truman issued the proclamation starting the holiday earlier in the same year, he called upon the nation to, "participate in exercises expressive of our recognition of the skill, gallantry, and uncompromising devotion to duty characteristic of the Armed Forces in the carrying out of their missions."
The celebration was created by then-Secretary of Defense, Louis Johnson, on Aug. 31, 1949 to replace recognition days for the individual service branches, according to the USO.
President John F. Kennedy turned the celebration into a national holiday in 1961.