Veterans Day is an official United States holiday marking the end of World War I which formally ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. World War I was labeled “The War to End all Wars” and many veterans of that conflict hoped that it would be the last war but many wars have been fought since then including World War II. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed Armistice Day for November 11, 1919. In proclaiming the holiday, he said: To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the countrys service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations. The United States Congress passed a concurrent resolution seven years later on June 4, 1926, requesting that President Calvin Coolidge issue another proclamation to observe November 11 with appropriate ceremonies. A Congressional Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U.S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday: a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as Armistice Day. In 1945, World War II veteran Raymond Weeks from Birmingham, Alabama, had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans, not just those who died in World War I. Weeks led a delegation to Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, who supported the idea of National Veterans Day. Weeks led the first national celebration in 1947 in Alabama and annually until his death in 1985. President Reagan honored Weeks at the White House with the Presidential Citizenship Medal in 1982 as the driving force for the national holiday. Weeks is known as the Father of Veterans Day. Now November 11th is a date to remember and honor the service and sacrifice of Veterans from all American Wars. Many surviving Civil War Veterans marched in parades honoring veterans on both Memorial Day and Veterans Day. At least one Civil War Veteran served in both the Civil War, Spanish American War and World War I. Peter C. Hains had just graduated from West Point along with George Custer when he entered the Army serving in the artillery and topographical engineers in the Civil War. He was recalled during World War I and promoted to the rank of Major General. Pleasant Crump the last verified Confederate Veteran died in 1951 and Albert Woolson the last Union Veteran died in 1956.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 17:00:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015