Veterans Day
Veterans Day is a U.S. federal holiday observed on November 11, commemorating the end of World War I with the armistice signed at 11:00 a.m. in 1918. Initially called Armistice Day, the holiday honors the sacrifices of American veterans who served in various conflicts. The day has roots in the celebratory atmosphere of 1919, when veterans' parades and ceremonies began to emerge, highlighting the heroism of those who died in service. In 1921, the U.S. honored its unknown soldiers by interring one at Arlington National Cemetery, establishing a tradition of remembrance.
Despite the initial focus on World War I veterans, the significance of the day evolved, particularly after World War II and the Korean War, leading to a push for a broader recognition of all U.S. military veterans. In 1954, Armistice Day was officially renamed Veterans Day to encompass this expanded tribute. In the late 1960s, efforts to create a three-day weekend led to a temporary move of the holiday to the fourth Monday of October, but public discontent resulted in its reinstatement to November 11 in 1978. Veterans Day serves as a solemn reminder to honor and appreciate the sacrifices made by all who have served in the armed forces.
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Veterans Day
At 11:00 a.m. on November 11, 1918, an armistice between the Allies and Central Powers ended the fighting in World War I. As the guns of the victors and the vanquished fell silent, the “war to end wars” became history.
News of the cease-fire produced mammoth celebrations. Parisians thronged the broad boulevards of their city to demonstrate their jubilation, while in London thousands flocked to the royal palace and to the residence of the prime minister to sing and cheer. In the United States, observances were equally enthusiastic. In New York City, more than one million people jammed Broadway, crowds paraded and danced through other thoroughfares, and tons of ticker tape showered out of windows in the Wall Street area.
The November 11 armistice was a cease-fire, leaving vast problems unresolved. Over ten million people were dead, huge areas of Europe lay in ruins, and a satisfactory peace settlement was yet to be negotiated. The proclamation issued on November 11, 1919, by President Woodrow Wilson reflected the pride that this nation took in aiding the Allied military victory:
We were able to bring the vast resources, material and moral, of a great and free people to the assistance of our associates in Europe who had suffered and sacrificed without limit in the cause for which they fought. Out of this victory there arose new possibilities of political freedom and economic concert. The war showed us the strength of great nations acting together for high purposes, and the victory of arms foretells the enduring conquests which can be made in peace when nations act justly and in furtherance of the common interests of men. To us in America the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's 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.
Yet, the difficulties encountered in attempting to cope with the aftermath of the war produced a somber atmosphere throughout the world in the year that followed the end of the fighting. Many nations noted the first anniversary of the World War armistice on November 11, 1919, with veterans' parades, secular and religious programs, and two minutes of silence in honor of the war dead.
Two years after the 1918 armistice, France and England observed the anniversary by paying tribute to their soldiers who had died in the war. During the dark days of fighting, many soldiers were buried in unmarked graves. In 1920, the French selected one such unidentified French soldier, interred him in a sarcophagus beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and lit a perpetual flame over his tomb. That same year Great Britain also chose an unknown British soldier and buried him near the tombs of English royalty in Westminster Abbey.
On November 11, 1921, the United States, following the example of France and England, honored its war dead. Months before, the remains of an American soldier had been disinterred in France, taken to the city hall at Châlons-sur-Marne, and placed in a casket inscribed “An unknown American soldier who gave his life in the great war.”
After a transatlantic voyage aboard the cruiser Olympia, the body of the American unknown soldier arrived in the United States early in November 1921. The remains lay in state in the rotunda of the Capitol in Washington, DC, for three days. Then, on November 11 the body of the unknown soldier was taken to its final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Floral tributes and wreaths from all parts of the world decorated the gravesite. Foreign diplomats, members of all branches of the American armed services, and dignitaries including President Warren G. Harding were present for the interment. At 11:00 A.M., the time that the armistice had gone into effect three years earlier, the casket was lowered into the tomb. Above it was placed a block of white marble, bearing the inscription “Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.”
During the 1920s, annual observances of the armistice became traditional on both sides of the Atlantic. In England and Canada, the commemoration came to be known as Remembrance Day. In the United States, it was called Armistice Day or, less commonly, Victory Day. The anniversary did not become a federal holiday until 1938, but as early as 1926 Congress adopted a resolution directing the president to issue an annual proclamation calling on citizens to observe the day.
From the beginning, commemorations of the November 11 armistice paid special tribute to the soldiers who died during World War I. Their graves were decorated and small red artificial poppies were worn to honor them. Poppies are symbolic because they grew wild in the fields of Europe and the famous war poem “In Flanders Fields” alludes to the profusion of poppy blossoms. After World War II and the Korean War, however, celebrations of the 1918 cease-fire received less and less attention. In response to this change in attitude, many organizations, particularly veterans' groups, urged that the November 11 holiday be set aside as a day to pay tribute to all those who had served in this nation's armed services. In 1954, Congress passed, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed, a bill specifying that Armistice Day would thereafter be known and commemorated as Veterans Day.
Still another change was made in the November 11 observance in June 1968, when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a law making Veterans Day one of the federal holidays to be observed on a predetermined Monday in order to provide Americans with an additional three-day holiday weekend. The law, which went into effect in 1971, transferred the observance of Veterans Day from November 11 to the fourth Monday of October. However, veterans' organizations did not approve of the movable date, and much confusion resulted. In 1975, Congress passed legislation that made Veterans Day revert to November 11 effective 1978.
Bibliography
Ducharme, Jamie. "Everything You Need to Know about Veterans Day." Time, 11 Nov. 2017, time.com/5020372/what-is-veterans-day/. Accessed 1 May 2024.
"History of Veterans Day." US Department of Veterans Affairs, www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp. Accessed 1 May 2024.
Kendall, Paul. Voices from the Past: Armistice 1918; The Last Days of the First World War Told through Newspaper Reports, Official Documents and the Accounts of Those Who Were There. Frontline Books, 2017.
Mettler, Katie. "How Veterans Day Went from Celebrating World Peace to Thanking Armed Forces." The Washington Post, 11 Nov. 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/11/11/how-veterans-day-went-from-celebrating-world-peace-to-thanking-armed-forces. Accessed 1 May 2024.
"The Origins of Veterans Day." The National WWI Museum and Memorial, 2024, www.theworldwar.org/learn/about-wwi/origins-veterans-day. Accessed 1 May 2024.
"Today in History—November 11." Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/november-11/. Accessed 1 May 2024.