In honor of our veterans for their patriotism, love of country and willingness to sacrifice their lives to keep our country safe and free, we wanted to take this opportunity to post a little information about Veterans Day.
HISTORY OF VETERANS DAY
(Courtesy of the Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs. va.gov)
World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” – officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”
In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following 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…”
An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday—a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as “Armistice Day.” Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen in the Nation’s history; after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word “Armistice” and inserting in its place the word “Veterans.” With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.
Here are two events you may be interested in:
Nov 11 | Veterans Day Ceremony | VFW Post 6696, 306 W. Marion St., Eatonton
Sunday, 11 am – 12:30 pm
Join us November 11 at 11:00am at Putnam County Veterans Wall of Honor for 2018 Veterans Day Ceremony. Guest speaker will be Congressman Jody Hice.
Nov 11 | WWI: Looking Back 100 years | MMCC, Madison
Sunday, 2-4 pm
A FREE Veterans Day symposium commemorating the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Great War on Nov. 11, 1918. The program will feature local and regional historians, including a keynote address by Jamil Zainaldin, recently retired President of Georgia Humanities.
Program:
- WWI: How We Got “Over There” – Dr. Bob Wellborn,
- Slideshow of local Madison WWI letters and local history
- The Doughboy: Honoring the Soldiers from Courthouse to Country documentary film about the “Spirit of the American Doughboy” statue in front of the Morgan County Courthouse
- KEYNOTE: Georgia’s Other Civil War – Dr. Jamil Zainaldin, recently retired GA Humanities president and engaging speaker argues that the South saw WWI differently due to Civil War experience.
- WWI – themed reception to follow, provided by Morgan County Landmarks Society; cash bar with French wine & German beer
- Original WWI posters on display
