Why Is Veterans Day November 11

The Difference Between Veterans Day And Memorial Day

Memorial Day honors service members who died in service to their country or as a result of injuries incurred during battle. Deceased veterans are also remembered on Veterans Day, but the day is set aside to thank and honor living veterans who served honorably in the military — in wartime or peacetime.

Here is President Dwight Eisenhower’s letter to Harvey V. Higley, administrator of Veterans’ Affairs, designating him chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee:

The White House Office

Dear Mr. Higley:

I have today signed a proclamation calling upon all of our citizens to observe Thursday, November 11, 1954 as Veterans Day. It is my earnest hope that all veterans, their organizations, and the entire citizenry will join hands to insure proper and widespread observance of this day. With the thought that it will be most helpful to coordinate the planning, I am suggesting the formation of a Veterans Day National Committee. In view of your great personal interest as well as your official responsibilities, I have designated you to serve as Chairman. You may include in the Committee membership such other persons as you desire to select and I am requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch to assist the Committee in its work in every way possible.

I have every confidence that our Nation will respond wholeheartedly in the appropriate observance of Veterans Day, 1954.

Sincerely,

History Of Veterans Day

Veterans Day, originally celebrated as Armistice Day, was first issued on November 11, 1919, by President Woodrow Wilson a year after the end of World War I. The purpose of Armistice Day was to honor the fallen soldiers of the Great War for their sacrifice and bravery. Seven years later, in 1926, Congress adopted a resolution requesting that President Calvin Coolidge issue annual proclamations on November 11, making Armistice Day a legal holiday.

In 1945, World War II veteran Raymond Weeks had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans rather than just the ones who died in World War I. He led a delegation to General Dwight Eisenhower, who was all for the idea. Weeks then organized the first Veterans Day celebration in 1945 in Alabama and every year since, until he died in 1985. In 1982, he was honored by President Reagan with the Presidential Citizenship Medal. Weeks was also named the Father of Veterans Day by Elizabeth Dole.

The National Veterans Award was also created in 1954, first received by Congressman Rees for his support in making Veterans Day a federal holiday. Though the holiday is currently and was originally celebrated on November 11, the day was moved to the fourth Monday of October in 1971 due to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. Finally, on September 20, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed a law that returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of November 11, beginning in 1978.

Why Is Veterans Day Celebrated On November 11

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. Every year on November 11, Americans come together with flags and parades and food to celebrate our military heroes on Veterans Day. The date was chosen for a very specific reason.

We asked James Dollar, a US Army veteran and history buff over at Bellarmine University, to help us explain.

Veterans Day originally came out of World War I, a conflict in which America had lost 116,000 men. Globally, millions of soldiers and civilians were injured and killed.

This was war on a scale that had not been seen by the rest of the world, ever, Dollar said.

World War I officially ended on November 11, 1918. The armistice was signed at the 11th hour, on the 11th day, of the 11th month. A year later, on the anniversary, President Woodrow Wilson declared there would be an Armistice Day, with parades and ceremonies to remember the bravery and sacrifice of those who served and appreciate their victory. A two-minute cessation of business was honored at 11:00 AM on that day.

In 1926, Congress issued a formal declaration that November 11 would be Armistice Day each year.

It was not just a celebration of the soldiers that served in World War I, Dollar explained. It was a celebration of peace, and it was actually a peace holiday. Of course, it was a little early because in 1939 World War II began.

In 1954, President Eisenhower changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day, to include those who had served in World War II and Korea for recognition.

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Veterans Day: Us Military Veterans Honored Each November

This year, as always, the memorial amphitheater built around the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery, just outside Washington, remains the focal point for national Veterans Day ceremonies. The traditions are firmly established: A combined color guard representing all military services executes present arms at the tomb, the president lays a wreath, and a bugler plays Taps, the haunting bugle call used at U.S. military funerals.

In 1958, two unidentified American war dead, one from World War II and one from the Korean War, were buried in Arlington National Cemetery alongside the Unknown Soldier from World War I. In 1984, an unknown serviceman from the Vietnam War was placed beside them. They symbolize all Americans who gave their lives in all wars.

The earlier, more narrowly focused Armistice Day commemorated the end of fighting in World War I under the armistice implemented at 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918 the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first Armistice Day a year later.

In 1938, Congress designated Armistice Day a legal holiday, dedicated to the cause of world peace. But Wilsons hope that World War I would be the war to end war collapsed with the outbreak of new fighting in Europe. The United States entered World War II in 1941.

As of 2010, there were 22.4 million veterans in the United States, according to the Census Bureau.

What Happens At 11am On Veterans Day

Observance. Veterans Day is intended to honor and thank all military personnel who served the United States in all wars, particularly living veterans. It is marked by parades and church services and in many places the American flag is hung at half mast. A period of silence lasting two minutes may be held at 11am.

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How Americans Fought To Restore Veterans Day To November 11

It has been an American tradition to honor our military on the traditional time of 11:11 a.m. on November 11. But there was a time when Congress tried to move the holiday, only to face several years of strong public resistance.

The holiday was first called Armistice Day. It was established after World War I to remember the war to end all wars, and it was pegged to the time that a cease-fire, or armistice, occurred in Europe on November 11, 1918.

A year later, President Woodrow Wilson said the armistice anniversary deserved recognition.

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, he said.

Armistice Day officially received its name through a congressional resolution that was passed on June 4, 1926. By that time, 27 states had made Armistice Day a legal holiday.

Then, in 1938, Armistice Day officially became a national holiday by law, when an act was passed on May 13, 1938, making November 11 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.

Scott Bomboy is the editor in chief of the National Constitution Center

The Uniform Monday Holiday Act

In 1968, Congress passed a law that moved four federal holidays, including Veterans Day, to Monday, bowing to pressure from a coalition of travel and tourism groups that argued more three-day weekends would stimulate the economy. In a statement upon signing the bill, President Lyndon B. Johnson said the law would help Americans enjoy more fully the country that is their magnificent heritage, visit their families, and travel farther.

The move enraged veterans groups. We look at this as a legislative distortion of history, American Legion commander William C. Doyle told the Associated Press, anaccommodation to our economic systemthe almighty dollar, if you willat the expense of historical fact.

When the change went into effect in 1971, pressure mounted and most states changed their observances of the holiday back to November 11. In the face of growing confusion, in 1975 Congress held hearings on whether it should change the federal holiday back.

Legislators weighed everything from weather to the number of times November 11 would fall on a Monday, and heard testimony on both sides of the issue. The emotion and feeling in the hearts of our World War I veterans and citizens of that era who recall the impact of the ceasefire on the 11th month, the 11th day, and the 11th hour in 1918 should serve as the cornerstone as this generation attempts to build a permanent framework for peace throughout the world, said Kansas Representative Keith G. Sebelius.

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Does Veterans Day Honor The Dead

Originally called Armistice Day, the holiday became federally recognized in 1926 as a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace. In 1954, after the Korean War, the holiday became known as Veterans Day following an eight-year campaign to expand the holiday to honor all veterans, alive and deceased no matter how

Veterans Day : Why Is Veterans Day Celebrated On Nov 11 Holiday History Facts

This Vietnam War memorial wall at USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park bears the inscription, “We are the men from Alabama who served in Vietnam, but could not return … Remember us.”Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com

• Leada Gore | lgore@al.com

Veterans Day is a time to thank those who have served in the U.S. armed forces.

The origins of Veterans Day come from the end of World War I. On Nov. 11, 1918, an armistice between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Though the war wasnt officially over until the Treaty of Versailles was signed seven months later, Nov. 11 is recognized as the end of the war to end all wars, according to history from the Veterans Administration.

In November 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Nov. 11 as the first commemoration of what was then known as Armistice Day, saying 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 day was originally celebrated with parades and a brief suspension of business at 11 a.m. Congress officially recognized the day with a resolution passed on June 4, 1926.

The Congressional resolution said:

The change was not well received.

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Things You Don’t Know About Veterans Day

1. It’s “Veterans Day,” not “Veteran’s Day,” for a good reason.

The lack of the apostrophe might seem like a semantic choice, but it has a definite and deliberate meaning. According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, Veterans Day is not a day that belongs to veterans, it is a day for honoring veterans directly in front of us right now.

2. Veterans Day used to be celebrated on the fourth Monday of October.

In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which stated that Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Columbus Day, and Veterans Day would all be celebrated on Mondays. The reason for doing so was to create three-day weekends, which hopefully encouraged travel and other recreational activities that would help stimulate the economy.

However, many states did not agree with the change, particularly for Veterans Day, which holds significant historic and patriotic significance. And so on Sept. 20 1975, President Gerald Ford signed Public Law 9497, which returned the observance of Veterans Day to Nov. 11, beginning in 1978.

3. Armistice Day became Veterans Day in 1954.

4. Marines celebrate their service birthday and Veterans Day with a 96-hour liberty.

Nov. 10 marks the birthday, an event that is generally celebrated with a traditional ball and a cake-cutting ceremony. Since this special day falls the day before Veterans Day, many Marines celebrate both holidays together with a 96-hour liberty period.

Spelling Of Veterans Day

While the holiday is commonly printed as Veteran’s Day or Veterans’ Day in calendars and advertisements, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs website states that the attributive rather than the possessive case is the official spelling “because it is not a day that ‘belongs’ to veterans, it is a day for honoring all veterans.”

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From Armistice Day To Veterans Day

American effort during World War II saw the greatest mobilization of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force in the nations history some 5.7 million more served in the Korean War.

In 1954, after lobbying efforts by veterans service organizations, the 83rd U.S. Congress amended the 1938 act that had made Armistice Day a holiday, striking the word Armistice in favor of Veterans. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the legislation on June 1, 1954. From then on, November 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

The next development in the story of Veterans Day unfolded in 1968, when Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which sought to ensure three-day weekends for federal employeesand encourage tourism and travelby celebrating four national holidays on Mondays.

The observation of Veterans Day was set as the fourth Monday in October. The first Veterans Day under the new law was Monday, October 25, 1971 confusion ensued, as many states disapproved of this change, and continued to observe the holiday on its original date.

What Do You Say To Your Husband On Veterans Day

To my dear husband, I wish a very Happy Veterans Day.May you always stand for the honour of America.May you always deliver more than what your duty demands you to. May you always have the blessings of Almighty with you to help you serve your country with all your courage, dedication and commitment.

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It Draws Attention To The Challenges Facing Many Veterans

Veterans face disproportionate rates of homelessness, deficits in educational achievement, a struggle to find employment, and often have to deal with devastating wounds. In many cases, post-traumatic stress disorder makes it hard for them to reintegrate into regular society. By understanding these challenges, we can all reach across those divides and make sure veterans have the best possible chance of having a healthy and fulfilling life after their service.

The Evolution Of Veterans Day

Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word Armistice and inserting in its place the word Veterans. With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

Later that same year, on October 8th, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first Veterans Day Proclamation which stated:

In order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to join hands in the common purpose. Toward this end, I am designating the Administrator of Veterans Affairs as Chairman of a Veterans Day National Committee, which shall include such other persons as the Chairman may select, and which will coordinate at the national level necessary planning for the observance. I am also requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch of the Government to assist the National Committee in every way possible.

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Theres A Reason It Isnt Spelled With An Apostrophe

Veterans Day is spelled as it is for a very specific reason. The apostrophe plus S here, which would be the little curly mark between the N and the S, would denote possession.

Veterans Day is not a day that belongs to Veterans or is owned by Veterans in any capacity. It is a day for everyone, regardless of if theyve served or not, to reflect on the sacrifices of people who have served. The day may be dedicated to Veterans, but Veterans do not own it.

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Veterans Day originated in the Armistice Day holiday commemorating the November 11, 1918, armistice at 11 a.m. , which suspended active hostilities and effectively ended the First World War.President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11, 1919, the first Armistice Day with the following words: 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 .

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