By Pete Salzman, Special to the Journal, note from the editor by Patrick Dobyns, Editor
Did you know you can donate to Veteran students here at Pellissippi State Community College? As we highlight Veterans Day, we at Imaginary Gardens invite you to join us in recognizing and honoring Veterans’ valiant service by investing in their future through the Veteran Support Fund. Just click the link below, select your donation amount, and designate your contribution to the “Veteran Support Fund.” Imaginary Gardens appreciates your generous support.
Thank you and have a blessed day honoring this nation’s current and retired soldiers,
– Emma G. Harrison, Editor-in-Chief, Imaginary Gardens
Give to the Veteran Support Fund.
On November 11, the United States will observe Veterans Day, a federal holiday that honors military veterans. What many Americans don’t know is that, before 1954, Veterans Day was known as Armistice Day. But a reader might ask, why Armistice Day, and why November 11?
In 1918, the United States and its allies fought against the German Empire during the First World War, known at the time as “The Great War.” Historians sometimes refer to the First World War as the first mechanized war because new technology — such as chemical weapons, machine guns, and aircraft — was used in the conflict.
After four grueling years of trench warfare and more than 15 million deaths, the war ended on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. Seven months later, the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles in France, thereby officially ending the war. Despite the lag between the end of the conflict and the signed treaty, November 11 is regarded as the end of “The War to End All Wars.”
In November of 1919, then President Woodrow Wilson declared in an address to the American people, “the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and the 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 nations.”
Although Armistice Day was observed yearly following Wilson’s public speech, it wasn’t until 1938 that the holiday was legalized by Congressional Act. Congress declared that November 11 would be a legal holiday to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and thereafter celebrated and known as “Armistice Day.”
After World War II began in 1939, the enormity of World War I faded from the American consciousness. Once again, the world was fighting on multiple fronts in what historians would later understand was the deadliest conflict in history.
The United States entered the conflict in 1941 following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in what the Department of Veterans Affairs now describes as the mobilization of the largest forces of the Army, Navy, Marines, and Airman in our nation’s history. Albert Einstein would later observe, “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
After World War II ended, Navy veteran Raymond Weeks began his life’s work of transforming November 11 into a day that honors all veterans. By 1954, the word “Armistice” was replaced with “Veterans.”
In 1968, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act was signed to create “a three-day holiday for Federal employees.” Veterans Day, along with Memorial Day, Columbus Day, and Washington’s birthday, became mandatory federal holidays that were meant to be observed on Mondays. Americans, and particularly veterans, however, did not like Veterans Day being changed from November 11, as the day had special significance to those who served. As a result, President Gerald Ford signed a law in 1975 returning Veterans Day celebrations to their original November 11 observance.
By now you’re thinking, “Why an article on Veterans Day?” Well, I would like everyone to know that Veterans Day recognizes and honors all veterans who are living and passed. Those who served during wartime and peacetime. Veterans Day is dedicated to the veterans who served honorably in the American military. I would like to ask from you, when you see a veteran, stop, shake his or her hand, and thank them for keeping this great country of ours free.
Note from the Editor:
I wanted to take a moment to go a little more in-depth with the First World War because, as Salzman stated, it is at the heart of the origins of Veterans Day. It is often overshadowed by the Second World War, and there are a few reasons for this — not the least of which is the almost cartoonishly evil nature of the Nazis and the Japanese Army. The Allied Cause was a moral crusade in the most literal ways. But the First World War was a different beast entirely. Americans never got the brunt of this conflict, though, joining in about a year before the conflict was ending. The German Army was already getting tired, its government on the verge of collapse, and everyone knew that things were coming to a close.
We did not have our cities reduced to rubble, nor did we have our fields scarred by trenches, barbed wire, and landmines. We suffered no civilian casualties, because we were on the other side of the world, shielded by our isolation. Despite this, we did see the conflict’s end. Our troops were paraded from trench to trench, symbols of prestige amongst the French and British ranks. They were named doughboys because of how “fresh” they were, but later our regiments would become some of the most decorated troops of the war. The 369 Infantry Regiment, otherwise known as the “Harlem Hellfighters,” were attached to the French Army and were so prized that they won the French Croix de Guerre, the first Americans to ever do so.
While Americans moved on from the First World War to honor all veterans, Europeans still recognize November 11 as Armistice Day. It’s not that surprising. In the fields of France and Belgium, the lines where trenches were dug are still visible. Mines still dot No-Man’s Land, still able to kill as efficiently now as in 1914. Great depressions pockmark the Earth where the first use of mechanized artillery pounded for hours, days, and weeks at a time into beleaguered troops. The men who served together weren’t just comrades in arms, but often grew up together, were from the same towns, cities, and villages, which led to these places losing an entire generation. While the Second World War is undoubtedly the deadliest, the First was arguably the worst. While we honor all military veterans on this day, we should not forget what this day means — a chance for peace.
