On this Veterans Day, we would like to pay homage to our brave men and women who have served our great country today. We would also like to look at the history that led to this holiday.
The History of November 11th
On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month soldiers laid down their arms for the Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919. It took seven months, but the moment, the time and the month would not be forgotten. On November 11, 1918, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day. It was an act meant to reflect the heroism of those who died in service, the victory and a cue for peace. Armistice Day was originally celebrated with parades, public meetings and allowed business to shutdown at 11:00 am. In 1938, November 11th became a legal holiday dedicated to world peace and to celebrate the armistice of ‘the war to end all wars’.
Armistice Day to Veterans Day
Of course, The Great War was followed by World War II, the greatest deployment of U.S. servicemen in the Nation’s history, immediately followed by the Korean War. Obviously, peace was not attainable and throughout the last half of the 20th century the world lived under the chill of an ever encroaching possibility of the final war for all mankind. The Cold War eventually warmed into a world of guerilla warfare. But in 1954, that realization brought Armistice Day to be changed to Veterans Day. Nearly 30 years later, on June 1, 1954 President Dwight D. Eisenhower enacted November 11th as a celebration of all veterans from all wars. Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans while Memorial Day would come to memorialize those who died while serving.
On June 28, 1968 the Uniform Holiday Bill was signed. The bill gave Federal employees Monday’s off so they could have three-day weekends on Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Columbus Day. The point was to encourage travel, recreational and cultural activities, but ultimately it was to stimulate industrial and commercial production.
After significant confusion on the first observed three-day holiday on October 25, 1971, the importance of the commemoration as a matter of historic and patriotic significance, the prominence of the 11th hour, on the 11th day of the 11th month was much too sacrosanct even for economic stimulus. Therefore, on September 20, 1975 President Gerald Ford returned Veterans Day to its original day.
New Era Realty would like to remember the significance of our U.S. holidays for the people they celebrate, our honorable veterans, their families and their professionalism around the world.
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