Getting date month in english format inside bash script -

in bash script have following:

mes=$(date +"%b") 

how can month in english format?

if echo $mes variable, abr. apr.

i'm trying solve without using if statement or switch. may option...
have tried date -u not working me.

edit:
have put line in first line of script script:

#!/bin/bash lang=en_us_8859_1  # here rest of script 

now working, can't accept own answer valid... think because haven't enough reputation in stackoverflow