Veterans Day

Nov. 11 marks the 75th anniversary of Veterans Day. Wait a minute, you say, you thought the holiday dated back to World War I, more than 100 years ago? That would be Armistice Day.

The First World War saw 117,000 U.S. soldiers and sailors (there were a few airmen, but under Army control) perish in two years of fighting against the armies of the German kaiser. Hostilities ceased at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. The Treaty of Versailles was signed in June of 1919.

Seeing the battalions and squadrons return home, and the mourning by the families of those who did not, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation the following year declaring Nov. 11 as “a day to be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service.” It became known as Armistice Day, in observance of the time and date the First World War ended.

Congress passed a resolution in 1926 calling upon the president of the United States to every year issue a proclamation recognizing the armistice and those of the armed forces who died in the conflagration. Thus, Armistice Day was simply a request by the President that citizens of the country spend a moment at 11 a.m. to remember the sacrifices made on the battlefields of Europe during the war.

That is what it remained for twelve years until 1938, when Congress adopted Section 37A of the United States Code, declaring Armistice Day a federal holiday.

The next year, the armies of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich invaded Poland and advanced across the European continent. In 1941, the U.S. was formally drawn into the conflict (After German commenced hostilities in September 1939, the U.S. had been supporting England and France by shipping supplies across the seas, much like is being done today to support Ukraine), and, in four years of war, our country had mobilized sixteen million men and women to serve in the armed forces. Surrender was signed by Germany in May 1945 and by Japan in September.

One of the veterans who came home after an extended tour of duty was a nearly 40-year-old sailor from Birmingham, Alabama named Raymond Weeks. He appreciated the valor of a previous generation exhibited in the First World War, but believed that a day should be reserved not just for the brave of that conflict, but for all who participated in the most recent conflict as well. As such, he organized the first coordinated gathering of soldiers and sailors from both wars in his hometown on Nov. 11, 1947, calling the occasion “Veterans Day.”

The idea caught on and Weeks lobbied Congress to update the Federal Code to replace the word “Armistice” with the term “Veterans” and place the emphasis not only for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, but for all who served our nation.

The Korean War interrupted the effort in the early 1950s, but added all the more impetus to the argument for the change.

A year after the Korean War ended, in 1954, with another six and a half million Americans returning home or retaining their commission in the military, the House of Representatives and Senate passed Public Law 380, redesignating Armistice Day as Veterans Day. It was signed Oct. 8, 1954, by President Dwight Eisenhower as a national commemoration.

Raymond Weeks, however, had already been doing so every year since 1947, making 2022 the 75th anniversary of the holiday. Weeks, himself, was also honored not only by Congress, but by Ronald Reagan when the president accorded him the Presidential Service Medal in 1982 where Weeks was declared “The Father of Veterans Day.”

In recognition of the historic anniversary and the veterans and active duty personnel of Iowa, the Marion Heritage Center is hosting dedication ceremonies for a new exhibit titled “Worth Their Medal: Commemorating 75 Years of Veterans Day,” featuring more than 50 of the highest ranking medals awarded by the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, Space Force, and Merchant Marine. The ceremony begins 1:30 p.m. Sunday Nov. 6 at the Heritage Center, 590 10th Street, in Marion.

The exhibit Grand Opening is free and all veterans and active duty warriors, as well as their families, and the general public, are welcome to attend. it also will be available for viewing during regular museum hours through February 11. For more information, contact the Heritage Center at (319) 447-6376 or access their website at marionheritagecenter.org.

David V. Wendell is a Marion historian, author and special events coordinator specializing in American history.