Full Throttle

The annual recognition of Veterans Day on November 11 goes back to 1919, when it was referred to as Armistice Day.

That day was the one-year anniversary of the end of World War I. The war concluded when an armistice, or a temporary cease of all aggressions, was implemented. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the holiday with these 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 country’s 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 following year, both France and the United Kingdom observed services, on the same day, for those unknown who died in the war. A year later, the U.S. held a similar ceremony, as Congress approved legislation for a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, to be placed in Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1926, Congress enacted a resolution, requesting the President to observe Armistice Day on an annual basis, which the President issued. In 1938, it became a legal Federal holiday, since the states retained the right to designate their own individual holidays.

On June 1, 1954, after both World War II and the Korean War produced millions of new war veterans, President Dwight D. Eisenhower changed the name of Armistice Day to Veterans Day.

As part of the Fourth Monday Law established in 1968, Congress designated the observance of Veterans Day on the fourth Sunday of October. However, most states chose to acknowledge Veterans Day as it originally was on November 11. As a result, in 1975, Congress formally changed the Federal observation of Veterans Day to November 11, and it would take effect in 1978.

The National Veterans Day Ceremony takes place at Arlington National Cemetery every November 11 at 11:00am. Each of America’s military services create a combined color guard and honors those who died in war by executing ‘Present Arms’ at the Tomb of the Unknowns, or those ‘known but to God.’ The President then lays a wreath at the tomb while ‘Taps’ is played by a bugler. The remainder of the ceremony takes place inside the Memorial Amphitheater.

A Veterans’ Day Poem
By Holly Rulli

Veterans’ Day will come and go
Quicker than the blink of an eye
But memories of heroes present and past
Will never, ever die.

The youth of today, do you understand?
The price brave men did pay
To preserve the freedom we enjoy
Each and every day.

They were called to duty, and so they went
Not knowing what was to be
Many came home, some never did
They sacrificed so we could be free.

How lonely some must have felt
How scared some had to be
They paid the bill with their own blood
What a great cost to be free.

The heroes of our country
Are the ones who paved the way
For freedom and the many rights
That we enjoy today.

Next time, young folks, you pass someone
Who may be old and gray
Remember ? thanks to him or her
You have your freedom today.

They may dress funny, not see as well
Walk a little slow
But they were young when duty called
And off to war did go

Brave men today are still at war
How scared some must be
How lonely some must feel inside
Paying the price to be free

You may dress funny, not hear as well
You drive your cars too fast
But remembers all those great brave men
Of present and of past.

So when you?re called to duty
Not knowing what is to come
Remember all those men before you
Who fought for our freedom.

Support our President, support our troops
Support our country, too
As they go fighting for what is right
For freedom the price is due.