The History of Veteran’s Day

Does the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, sound familiar?

It didn’t to me when I first heard it. This is the time that the end of World War I was formally acknowledged in 1918. This day was originally proclaimed Armistice Day by President Woodrow Wilson on November 11th, 1919 and was later legally named Armistice Day after the approving of a Congressional Act on May 13th, 1938. From that point on, November 11th of every year was recognized as a legal holiday.

The holiday that was nationally recognized in 1938, stayed true to its given name, “Armistice,” a peace between two conflicting groups for a certain amount of time. War broke out in Europe just one year after Armistice Day was officially recognized. With this war, the United States sent out 16.5 million Americans, of those, 407,000 died in service and 292,000 died in battle.

World War I was known then as “the war to end all wars,” but this phrase was proclaimed too soon as Word War II followed 21 years later and claimed the lives of over 61 million UK and USA soldiers.

This event marked the end of the Armistice Day and the soon-to-begin Veterans Day, a holiday where all veterans are honored, not just those who participated in World War I.

But how did it all come about?

An unknown World War I American soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in 1921, making way for Armistice Day to come to light. Many countries around the world were practicing this ceremony even before the United States started taking part.

Then in 1958, two more unidentified American soldiers from two separate wars, one from World War II and the other from the Korean War, were buried alongside the American soldier from World War I.

There was another burial of an unknown soldier from the Vietnam War into the Tomb of the Unknown, in the Arlington National Cemetery, but this serviceman was later identified as Michael Bassie and was removed for proper burial.

These unidentified buried soldiers from different battles help to influence the commemoration of Veterans Day every year.

The “Veterans Day” term was first used in 1947 in Birmingham, Alabama by Raymond Weeks, a World War II veteran. Raymond Weeks organized a celebration and named it “National Veterans Day” which consisted of parades and various festivities that honored ALL veterans. This celebration was held on November 11th, Armistice Day. Raymond Weeks would later, in 1982, receive the Presidential Citizens Medal from President Reagan, and his “National Veterans Day” celebration trended and is now celebrated annually nationwide.

Edward Rees, a U.S. Representative from Kansas submitted a proposed bill that would legally change the name of the holiday that would take place on November 11th from Armistice Day to Veterans Day.

Then in 1954 a bill was passed by Congress that U.S. President Eisenhower signed, legally renaming Armistice Day to Veterans Day.

Veterans Day was an official holiday from this point on, but the date was changed at one point. A law was passed in 1968 that moved the official celebration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. Many Americans found great significance in the date November 11th, causing Congress to change the official commemoration back to the original date, 10 years later, in 1978.