November 04, 2020

102-year-old Legionnaire sky high after crossing off bucket list item

By The American Legion
News
102-year-old Legionnaire sky high after crossing off bucket list item
(Facebook photo/Skydive Baltimore)

Maryland Post 156 Legionnaire and World War II veteran 'Millie' Bailey, who has made assisting others her lifetime effort, able to go skydiving in October.

She’s 102 years old, a U.S. Army veteran and a Paid-Up-For-Life member of Adams, Hanna, Moore Memorial American Legion Post 156 in Ellicott City, Md. Throughout her life she’s tried to assist and support others, including putting together thousands of care packages to U.S. servicemembers deployed overseas.

But recently, Millie Bailey did something for herself – something that has garnered her national attention.

Days after her birthday in mid-October, Bailey – strapped to a Skydive Baltimore instructor – crossed off a bucket list item when she went skydiving. For the former Army lieutenant, the experience was one that lived up to her expectations.

“It was just a thrilling experience,” Bailey said. “I was never frightened. At one point I got confused. I think I had thought you’d just be coming down with your body straight. I didn’t think about the fact that the air would have something to do with it. The air was tumbling us around. I felt like I was alone, and I thought, ‘Where in the heck did the (instructor) go?' Of course I was strapped to him, so I wasn’t alone. That was the only time I was confused.”

American Heroes Channel's Honor Flight Heroes was filming a piece on Bailey’s life when she was asked if there was one thing left she wanted to do. When skydiving came up, Honor Flight Heroes covered the cost and will include the session in the segment on Bailey at 7 p.m. ET on Veterans Day.

“It was just something for the last, oh, probably year or so that I thought I’d like to do,” Bailey said. “When I read about (former President) George Bush Sr. doing it, I realized you didn’t have to be a young person to do it. It was just one of the things I had felt I would like to do, and finally it came about it.”

Various media outlets – local and national television stations, magazines and newspapers – have done stories on Bailey’s experience. “I’m not surprised,” Bailey said of the coverage. “The thing that I think caught people’s attention, the age, I don’t think there’s been many people that age (have skydived).”

Bailey, who now lives in an assisted living facility in Columbia, Md., was the valedictorian of her senior class in high school in Tulsa. But she said that because of what were limited job opportunities for blacks in Oklahoma because of segregation, she chose the path of the military, enrolling in the Women's Army Corps in December of 1942 and later graduating from Officer Candidate School four months later. For the next 13 months she served as second-in-command of the Women’s Detachment at Fort McClellan, Ala., and later as Unit Commander of the Women’s Detachment #2 at Fort Benning, Ga.

She was chosen for the Adjutant General School, Officers’ Administration Course, at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, later in 1944 – the only time she served in a non-segregated setting during her time in the military. She was honorably discharged as a first lieutenant in January 1946.

In addition to working for both the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration, Bailey has spent a good portion of her life in community service. She’s been honored by President Donald Trump and the late Rep. Elijah Cummings, and has both a law enforcement award and local park named for her. She’s also served on numerous boards and councils, supported a local food bank, and for 21 years has annually raised an average of $10,000 for Howard County school children, helping fund field trips and other programs.

And since the Vietnam War, Bailey has been putting together care packages for deployed U.S. military personnel, sending what is estimated to be more than 14 tons of items – most recently six boxes she donated in October to U.S. servicemembers stationed in Afghanistan.

“I’m quite aware of the fact that care packages mean so much to our deployed soldiers,” Bailey said. “They say care packages are their biggest morale builder. That’s something I’ve been dedicated to for many, many years.

“I believe we all should do that we can to support our community. I try regularly to try to do something to help people who have needs. I feel like if you’re blessed, you should share your blessings.”

Bailey also said she’s felt blessed by her membership at American Legion Post 156. “I’ve made some very good connections with people who now are friends,” she said. “With (COVID-19), we’re not restricted here at the residential home where I live, but they encourage you to not go out unless you have to. Some of the (Post 156) members have been very kind in helping me if I need shopping done or anything. It’s a kind of brotherhood and sisterhood that I think is important. I’m proud to be an American Legion member.”

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