JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, Texas –
On Jan. 18, 2021, members of Joint Base San Antonio are encouraged to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The national recurring theme of this holiday is “Remember! Celebrate! Act! A Day On, Not A Day Off!” It calls upon the American people to engage in public service and promote peaceful social change.
The bill to create Martin Luther King Day was sponsored by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy and passed the Senate in October 1983. The following month, President Ronald Reagan signed it, establishing the third Monday of every January as Martin Luther King Jr. National Holiday, beginning in 1986, as a day when the nation pauses to remember King's life and work.
In 1994, Congress designated Martin Luther King Jr. Day as the first and only federal holiday observed as a national day of service.
In 1964, at 35 years old, Martin Luther King Jr. became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize. He was assassinated April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, and posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day posters are being displayed across Joint Base San Antonio, including the Keith A. Campbell Memorial Library at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston; the library and Base Exchange at JBSA-Randolph; and at the JBSA-Lackland Base Exchange. Visitors to these locations are encouraged to follow COVID-19 health and safety measures, including practicing physical distancing.
Due to COVID-19 concerns, San Antonio has transformed its annual Martin Luther King Jr. March into a virtual event that will include a TV and live-stream broadcast from 10 a.m. to noon Jan. 18.
For more information, contact the Civilian Personnel Section at 210-221-1408 or at usaf.jbsa.502-abw.mbx.jbsa-fsh-cps@mail.mil.