Rhemalogy

This morning when I was blessed to wake and began thinking on this day John Philip Sousa rang vehemently in my mind reminding me today is Veterans Day. So here is a brief history lesson.

Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces who were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. It coincides with other holidays including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day which are celebrated in other countries that mark the anniversary of the end of World War I. Major hostilities of World War I formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when the Armistice with Germany went into effect.

On November 11, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson issued a message to his countrymen on the first Armistice Day, in which he expressed what he felt the day meant to Americans. The United States Congress adopted a resolution on June 4, 1926, requesting that President Calvin Coolidge issue annual proclamations calling for the observance of November 11 with appropriate ceremonies. A Congressional Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U.S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made 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”.

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. Elizabeth Dole, who prepared the briefing for President Reagan, determined Weeks as the “Father of Veterans Day”. US Representative Ed Rees from Emporia, Kansas, presented a bill establishing the holiday through Congress. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, also from Kansas, signed the bill into law on May 26, 1954. Legally, two minutes of silence is recommended to be observed at 2:11pm Eastern Standard Time.

Thank you to all of the men and women who have fought so valiantly, and who made the ultimate sacrifice to keep our country free. Today I have a special friend, Retired Army Colonel Edward Gunn, whom I would like to acknowledge. I salute you, my friend…”Life is Good!” So as many of us celebrate a day off from work today let us not forget the real reason for this celebration.

Blessings and Peace!

Information extracted from wikipedia.org.