Thank You For Your Service to our Country !!
I send this message out to our neighbors here in the gardens who have served in our military.
Five Facts To Know About Veterans Day
In putting together this article, I checked with the Department of Defense website for some history. I found that they had put together a short quiz so I decided to share that with you.
Q1: Veterans Day was originally called Armistice Day to commemorate the end of which war?
Because the signing of the Treaty (or armistice) of Versailles ended World War I — the ”war to end all wars” — the day the agreement was signed was dubbed Armistice Day – the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
In 1926, Congress officially recognized Nov. 11 as the end of the war. In 1938, lawmakers made it an official holiday to honor WWI veterans.
Q2: What federal holiday do most people confuse with Veterans Day?
Memorial Day became a federal holiday in 1971 to honor the men and women who died while serving in the military. Memorial Day is a time to honor the fallen by visiting cemeteries or memorials.
Veterans Day honors those who served in war or peace and are still alive.
Q3: Do other countries celebrate Veterans Day on Nov. 11?
World War I was a multinational effort, so it makes sense that our allies also wanted to celebrate their veterans on Nov. 11. The name of the day and the types of commemorations differ, however.
Canada and Australia both call Nov. 11 “Remembrance Day.” Canada’s observance is pretty similar to our own, except many of its citizens wear red poppy flowers to honor their war dead. In Australia, the day is more akin to our Memorial Day.
Great Britain calls it “Remembrance Day,” too, but observes it on the Sunday closest to Nov. 11 with parades, services and two minutes of silence in London to honor those who lost their lives in war.
Ceremonies are held in Kenya about two weeks after Nov. 11. This is because word of the armistice took two weeks to reach troops in Africa.
Q4: "Veteran's Day", "Veterans Day". or "Veterans' Day". Which is correct t?'
The holiday is not a day that belongs to veterans, which an apostrophe usually indicates. It’s a day for honoring all veterans, so no apostrophe needed.
Q5: Has Veterans Day always been celebrated on November 11?
No. In 1968, Congress signed the Uniform Holiday Bill to ensure that a few federal holidays — Veterans Day included — would be celebrated on a Monday. Officials hoped it would spur travel and other family activities over a long weekend, which would stimulate the economy. For some inexplicable reason, the Bill set Veterans Day commemorations for the fourth Monday of every October.
On Oct. 25, 1971, the first Veterans Day under this new bill was held. We’re not sure why it took three years to implement, but not surprisingly, there was a lot of confusion about the change, and many states were unhappy, choosing to continue to recognize the day as they previously had — in November.
Within a few years, it became pretty apparent that most U.S. citizens wanted to celebrate Veterans Day on Nov. 11, since it was a matter of historic and patriotic significance. So on Sept. 20, 1975, President Gerald Ford signed another law, which returned the annual observance to its original date starting in 1978.