Secretary of Defense, Louis Johnson, announced on August 31, 1949, the creation of one "Armed Forces Day" on which to honor and celebrate all five branches of our armed services (Army, Air Force, Marine Corp, Navy and Coast Guard) as unified under one Department of Defense. "Armed Services Day" was announced to be the third Saturday in May. This year, that's May 17. We are all grateful to our armed services personnel and we express our gratitude to each and every one of them.