Veterans Day
THE HISTORY of
Originally known as Armistice Day, Veterans Day was originally a U.S. legal holiday set to commemorate the end of World War I, which ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. World War I officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, but the fighting had ended about seven months before when the Allies and Germany put into effect an armistice on the 11th hour of November 11, 1918. In 1926, Congress officially recognized November 11, 1918 as the end of the war and, in 1938, through an act of Congress, November 11 was made a legal holiday set aside to honor veterans of World War I. World War II and the Korean War then happened, so in 1954, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, Congress amended the Act of 1938 by changing the word “armistice” to the word “veterans.” On June 1, 1954, November 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars. Because the date of Veterans Day had also been changed,
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causing confusion, Congress signed the Uniform Holiday Bill in 1968, ensuring that four national holidays would be celebrated on Monday: Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Columbus Day. This also gave federal employees three-day weekends. October 25, 1971 was the first Veterans Day under this new bill, which set the holiday
,for the fourth Monday of every October. Several states were unhappy with this decision and continued to celebrate the holiday on its original date, which was November 11. It finally became obvious that most Americans wanted to celebrate in November, since it was a date of historic and patriotic significance, so on September 20, 1975,
President Gerald R. Ford signed another law returning the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of November 11, starting in 1978. Since then, the Veterans Day holiday has been observed on that date. Information from govinfo.gov and defense.gov
Thank you for your service and sacrifice!
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SALUTE
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