We wanted to take a moment to thank our SFBA members and Corvair friends who served to protect our country and wish them a Happy Veterans Day.
As we like to share history around here, we want to switch gears and share a little history of Veteran’s Day for those of you who may not know.
From the National Archives:
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in the year 1918, World War I came to an end. In honor of this significant moment in history, we in the U.S. celebrate and remember all of the brave men and women who have served in the armed forces on November 11 as Veterans Day. This public holiday coincides with Armistice Day, which is a national holiday in many of the other countries, and once was one in the United States.
On the first anniversary of the truce between the Allied and Central Powers ending World War I, president Woodrow Wilson issued a special message on Armistice Day to commemorate the heroic soldiers who fought in the war. Congress later made November 11 a public holiday “to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day.’”
After World War II, Raymond Weeks, a Navy veteran from the war, organized a day of festivities on November 11, 1947, in Birmingham, Alabama, to celebrate all veterans who had served in the United States armed forces, not just those who fought in World War I. Weeks was so dedicated to the idea that he sent petitions and letters to Congress, and the President advocating for the national public holiday.
Weeks saw his dreams of a day dedicated to honoring all military veterans come to fruition on May 26, 1954, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a law designating November 11 as a day to memorialize veterans who represented and fought for the United States in any war. Just a few days later, on June 1, Congress altered the formal name of the holiday from “Armistice Day” to “Veterans Day.”
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