LINCOLN - Gov. Jim Pillen is scheduled to declare Col. Arthur “Barney” Oldfield day on Dec. 18 in recognition of his birthday and lifetime achievements including his role on the NORAD Santa Tracker.

This Christmas marks the 70th anniversary of the North American Aerospace Defense Command's tracking of Santa Claus’ sleigh ride.

When someone put a picture of Santa on a board used to track unidentified air craft, Oldfield notified the media that the Continental Air Defense was tracking Santa’s route. Oldfield was able to convince the military of the public relations value of continuing the practice.

Judy Coe, who is developing the Col. Barney Oldfield Education Center in Tecumseh, requested the proclamation and State Sen. Bob Hallstrom’s office organized the event with Gov. Pillen at 9 a.m. on Dec. 2.

Here is the proclamation

WHEREAS, Arthur "Barney" Oldfield was born in Tecumseh, NE on December 18, 1909 and graduated from the University of Nebraska; and

WHEREAS, Oldfield worked for the Lincoln Star and Lincoln Journal newspapers before entering military service; and

WHEREAS, he joined the Army prior to World War II and was the first public relations officer to become a paratrooper, training war correspondents to jump into enemy territory; and

WHEREAS, he was press aide to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, coordinating news coverage of the D-Day invasion; and

WHEREAS, he earned the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and five battle stars; and

WHEREAS, after the war, he became a public relations officer for the U.S. Air Force, serving in Korea and with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD); and

WHEREAS, during his service, he became instrumental in starting the "NORAD Santa Tracker" in 1955; and,

WHEREAS, the "NORAD Santa Tracker" Program celebrates its 70th anniversary this year; and

WHEREAS, after retirement as a full colonel from the Air Force, he went to Hollywood and became a press agent for prominent figures such as Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan, and Elizabeth Taylor, and also worked as a publicist for Warner Bros. and as director of international relations for Litton Industries; and

WHEREAS, he befriended and helped mentor future heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman; and

WHEREAS, never forgetting where he came from, he and his wife Vada established dozens of scholarship funds through the University of Nebraska Foundation, providing millions of dollars in support of scholarship programs for students and researchers; and

WHEREAS, he wrote several books based on his military experiences, including Never a Shot in Anger (1956), Those Wonderful Men in the Cactus Starfighter Squadron (1976), and the novel Operation Narcissus (1978) before he passed away in 2003, at the age of 93;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Jim Pillen, Governor of the State of Nebraska, DO HEREBY PROCLAIM Thursday, December 18, 2025 as COL. ARTHUR "BARNEY" OLDFIELD DAY.