LINCOLN - Gov. Jim Pillen signed a proclamation Tuesday recognizing  NORAD Santa Tracker Day.

2025 marks the 70th year that NORAD will provide Santa tracking services. Dec. 18 was also recognized as the birthday of Nebraska native Col. Barney Oldfield, who helped start the program in 1955.

Joining the governor at the ceremony at the Warner Chamber of the state Capitol building were Greg McClure, Judy Coe, Mickie (Oldfield) Clements and Rick Clements. Legislative Aide Lance Braun of Sen. Robert Hallstrom’s office helped organize the event.

Coe is the curator of the Col. Barney Oldfield Center in Tecumseh.

She ran a radio station in Auburn and sold advertising in Tecumseh, when Oldfield made donations to local schools. 

After meeting with Oldfield, she met Peggy Briggs, now retired from state tourism. She said Briggs encouraged her to propose naming a  segment of Highway 136 the Col. Barney Oldfield Memorial Highway.

Coe said she envisioned Tecumseh as part of a regional tourism draw.

Pawnee County is the birthplace of silent screen star Harold Lloyd and Gage County was home to actor Robert Taylor. Taylor was a leading man in the films Magnificent Obsession and Camille.

Although Oldfield was not a movie star, Coe said his work as a military information officer and his later work as a press agent for Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan and Elizabeth Taylor made him a good fit.

Oldfield’s feats in World War II included paratrooping in to interview men who had paratrooped into Normandy for D-Day. He used the experience to train other journalists to parachute into war zones.

Coe said it was very pleasant to meet Gov. Pillen on Tuesday.

Coe: “It was a wonderful day for myself as well as Maechelle (Mickie Clements) and the people that were there. Trying to recognize all the accomplishments that Barney Oldfield has done through the years has been a mission of mine for years.”

She continues to advocate to re-open the exhibits at the Col. Barney Oldfield Center, 175 S. Third St., on the Tecumseh town square.

Here is the governor's 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.