Tuesday, November 11, 2008

For all the Veterans Male and Female

Veteran's Day 2008

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History

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed an Armistice Day for November 11, 1919. The United States Congress passed a concurrent resolution seven years later on June 4, 1926, requesting the President issue another proclamation to observe November 11 with appropriate ceremonies. An 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'."

Al King had the idea to celebrate all veterans, not just those who served in World War I. So he began his campaign to turn Armistice Day into "All" Veterans Day. King was an Emporia, Kansas shoe store owner actively involved with the American War Dads during World War II. King had promoted his notion so much that the Emporia Chamber of Commerce decided to get involved. With the help of then-U.S. Rep. Ed Rees, also from Emporia, a bill for the holiday was pushed through Congress. President Dwight Eisenhower signed it into law on May 26, 1954.[3]

Congress amended this act on November 8, 1954, by replacing "Armistice" with Veterans, and it has been known as Veterans Day since

12 comments:

Kathleen McQueen Wright said...

God Bless the Veteran's

Twisted Fencepost said...

Brilliant idea that Mr. King came up with.
Here's a great big Thank You to all our Veterans!

Rottlady of the Ozarks said...

Thanks for the history about Veteran's Day. Here's to all past, present and future Veterans!

Reader Wil said...

Happy Veterans'Day Patty! My father was a veteran. He didn't fight, but sailed all through the war from the USA to GB and Australia.

Anonymous said...

I forgot it was Veteran's Day or I would have worn a medal or something when we went to the doctor this morning.

Renie Burghardt said...

Greg took me for lunch and shopping at a larger town today, and we also went to a Veterans Day ceremony there. It was very touching.

Thank you for the history of Veterans Day. And we thank all veterans for their brave and loyal service to our country.

Happy Veterans Day!

Have a good night.

Renie

CINDY BUCKLEY said...

I didn't realize Armistice Day had evolved into Veteran's Day. I think this is a really important holiday that a lot of people don't take seriously enough. Of my 4 school aged children, only 1 came home from school where there had been any discussion on it- and they had today off as a holiday. I bet most of them, if you asked them, why did you have the day off from school, would not know why. And that's really sad given our history as a country who had to fight it's way into existence! Not to mention the current war.

Unknown said...

Thank You All Veterans for fighting for our freedom!

Unknown said...

What a great post about the Veterans...Thanks for sharing this.

Jack and Joann said...

Patty, thanks for posting for Veterans Day. Now if you want a great story and laugh head over to my blog and click on my blog list at TWOBYTWOBYTWO. Cindy has the funniest story about one of her six kids.

Tomate Farcie said...

A lot of people do work through the Veterans Day, around here (SF Bay Area), unfortunately. In France, it is widely observed and it is an important holiday, kind of like Christmas, Thanksgiving. When I was a kid, it was not uncommon to see vets having gone through the 2 wars (WW1, and WW2). The last WW1 vet in France died a couple of years ago. He was well over 100 years old!

Tomate Farcie said...

California just voted yes on Proposition 12 (Prop 12 authorizes issuance of $900 million in bonds to create a fund that assist veterans who are purchasing farms, homes and mobile home properties)

Regardless of people's political tendencies (left or right), it seems like the vast majority of voters was in agreement on this: veterans deserve a break and everybody's respect when they come home.