116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Time Machine: Veterans Day
The fight to preserve an almost-forgotten holiday
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
Armistice Day, a commemoration day proclaimed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 to honor those who had served the country in World War I, became an official holiday in the United States in 1954.
Armistice Day, originally marked by parades and public gatherings, became less celebrated as the world assumed it would never again see another “war to end all wars.”
But less than 25 years later, World War II began, bigger and more vicious than the one before. It was fought in Europe and the South Pacific. Each war ended on different dates. Europe’s ended on V-E Day (May 8, 1945) and the South Pacific war ended on V-J Day (Sept. 2, 1945).
Those days were celebrated separately for a few years but not as official national holidays.
Then came the idea in 1954 of combining those days into Veterans Day to be celebrated on the original Armistice Day, the 11th day of the 11th month.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the legislation that took effect June 1, 1954, honoring service men and women. The bill had been sponsored by members of Congress and officials of veterans organizations, who said the holiday would cover veterans of both world wars as well as the Korean War.
On Oct. 3, 1954, Eisenhower officially proclaimed Thursday, Nov. 11, 1954, as the first Veterans Day, saying, “On that day let us solemnly remember the sacrifice of all those who fought so valiantly on the seas, in the air and on foreign shores to preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain.”
Iowa observations
In Eastern Iowa, the first Veterans Day was observed in many Iowa communities, including Waukon, Postville and Earlville.
In Cedar Rapids, the Hanford Post of the American Legion began the holiday with a morning program on Municipal Plaza on May’s Island in the Cedar River. Gen. Carlton K. Smith of Cedar Rapids addressed the audience.
An evening program was planned by an association of all the veterans’ organizations in the city. It was held in the Veterans of Foreign Wars building at 709 Second Ave. SE, following a parade through downtown. The VFW had purchased the building in 1943 and added a second story to it in 1945.
In Ames, students of Iowa State College (now university) Scabbard and Blade military honor society recognized the day in the Gold Star Hall of the Memorial Union on campus. An honor guard, representing Army, Navy and Air Force, placed a memorial wreath in the hall.
The state of Iowa didn’t officially recognize the day until 1955, when Rep. Edward J. Steers of Creston introduced a bill in the Iowa Legislature to make Nov. 11 a Veterans Day holiday statewide in Iowa.
Flying the flag
In 1965, Iowa Gov. Harold Hughes urged all Iowa citizens to observe Veterans Day by flying American flags.
“Veterans Day as an observance should hold for all Americans deep significance beyond a tribute to those who have worn their country’s uniform with honor in time of national crisis, but also those now serving in the armed forces,” Al Faber of Des Moines, general chairman of the state Veterans Day Committee, said at the time. “The lesson that this day emphasizes for us is that freedom and peace with honor come at a very high but a worthy price.”
In 1978, the program saluting veterans on Veterans Day in Cedar Rapids was held in the basement armory of Veterans Memorial Coliseum, sponsored by VFW Post 788. Public interest in the observance had been waning. “But if the pattern of recent years holds true, only members of veterans groups, their families and a few others will be in attendance,” The Gazette’s editorial staff wrote.
Five years later, in 1983, Cedar Rapids revived its interest in the holiday, to the credit of Peter Teahen, who headed the Memorial Salute of Flags Committee. Downtown Cedar Rapids and Czech Village streets were adorned with 300 flags donated by families of deceased veterans.
In addition to the ceremony in the Memorial Coliseum Armory, Marion American Legion Post 298 staged a parade to City Square Park.
Remembering
Interest again waned in 1998, prompting another Gazette editorial: “Remembering veterans is all the people’s business. So, on this practically forgotten national holiday known as Veterans Day, let’s honor all who worked and sacrificed in the cause of peace.”
Last year, students at Kirkwood Community College recorded oral histories of Cedar Rapids-area veterans. The event was part of the national Veterans History Project that was preserved in the Library of Congress. Veterans Day events were held at Veterans Memorial Building in downtown Cedar Rapids.
The service will be held there again this year, with the service at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 11 at the building on the Second Avenue Bridge.
Comments: D.fannonlangton@gmail.com
Daily Newsletters