Vivian "Millie" Bailey is a barrier breaker full of adventurous spirit: She is listed among the first Black American female pilots and spent her 102nd birthday skydiving in Maryland.
She served in the Army during World War II, earning a rare superior rank in an officer's course where she was only one of two African-American women, according to a biography published by her retirement community.
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Bailey also gives back to the community, raising money for a Howard County elementary school and sending care packages to the troops deployed overseas.
She’s someone we can all look up to — and exactly the sort of person you’d want to name a park after.
And that’s what Howard County will do: Millie Bailey Park in Columbia, near Lake Kittamaqundi, is set to open this week.
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The grand opening comes days after her 102nd birthday, which she celebrated by skydiving. Bailey strapped herself to an instructor and hurtled through the air.
“It was wonderful, a real thrill,” Bailey said once back on the ground. “Just glad that I had landed.”
