Veterans Day, originally known as Armistice Day, commemorates all American veterans and is celebrated on November 11. It is a federal holiday, with parades and visits to military cemeteries. In other countries, it is known as Remembrance Day and symbolized by the red poppy.
Veterans Day was first celebrated in 1919, when it was known as Armistice Day. In 1954, the holiday was changed to “Veterans Day” so that observations of this holiday would commemorate all American veterans. It is traditionally celebrated on November 11 and is a federal holiday, which means that banks and government buildings are closed. Like Memorial Day, Veterans Day is meant to be a somber holiday where people reflect on the men and women of the military.
Armistice Day continues to be celebrated in many nations today. Commemorates the official armistice that preceded the formal end of World War I. By general agreement, the countries involved in World War I lay down their arms at 11:00 a.m. on November 11, 1918. A formal treaty to end the war was signed only nearly seven months later, but many people regarded November 11 as the end of the “war to end all wars,” as World War I was called. In November 1919, President Wilson established Armistice Day as a holiday in the United States, calling on Americans to organize events around the country to celebrate the end of the war.
The change to Veterans Day occurred during the Eisenhower administration. Eisenhower’s official proclamation in 1954 cited his involvement in World War II and the Korean War for the name change. Eisenhower’s proclamation expanded the holiday to include all veterans of the military and called for a national observance of the holiday; he also asked Americans to apply themselves “to the task of promoting a lasting peace so that their (veteran’s) efforts are not in vain.”
Veterans Day is traditionally celebrated with parades that include current and past service members. Older veterans usually travel by car and many bring out their old uniforms. Many people also visit military cemeteries on Veterans Day to leave flowers and other tokens, and political speeches are held across America. For young Americans, Veterans Day provides an opportunity to meet older veterans and talk to them about their experiences; veterans are living pieces of history who can speak about important historical events with authority because they were present.
In other countries, November 11 is often celebrated as Remembrance Day. Traditionally, people buy artificial red poppies from veterans to support veterans’ affairs and to commemorate the holiday. The symbolic meaning of the poppy is linked to the First World War, when red poppies flourished on some of the bloodiest and most terrible battlefields of the war; poppies were an important symbolic element in a famous war poem, In Flanders Fields. The poppy tradition survives in parts of the United States; many veterans can be seen selling poppies in the days leading up to Veterans Day.
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