Tag Archives: Veterans Day

Current Affairs, Memories & History, Religion & Spirit

History of Veterans Day – Office of Public Affairs

Soldiers of the 353rd Infantry near a church at Stenay, Meuse in France, wait for the end of hostilities. This photo was taken at 10:58 a.m., on November 11, 1918, two minutes before the armistice ending World War I went into effect.
President Eisenhower signing HR7786, changing Armistice Day to Veterans Day. From left: Alvin J. King, Wayne Richards, Arthur J. Connell, John T. Nation, Edward Rees, Richard L. Trombla, Howard W. Watts .

History of Veterans Day

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.”

Source: History of Veterans Day – Office of Public Affairs

Current Affairs

Veterans Day 2015

As we celebrate those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces this Veterans Day, many Americans may want to learn more about the veterans who live in and around their area. This year, the Census Bureau released a series of infographics detailing characteristics of veterans within each state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The statistics compiled from the 2009-2013 American Community Survey showed 21.3 million veterans living in the United States and Puerto Rico, comprising 9 percent of the civilian population. Alaska had the highest proportion of its population who are veterans, at 13.8 percent. Puerto Rico, at 3.8 percent, reported the lowest proportion of veterans.

Source: Veterans Day 2015

Current Affairs

Veterans History Project (Library of Congress)

Home Page for the Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. Motivated by the urgent need to collect the stories and experiences of war veterans while they are still among us, the U.S. Congress created the Veterans History Project in October 2000. The legislation calls upon the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress to collect and preserve audio- and video-taped oral histories, along with documents such as letters, diaries, maps, photographs, and home movies, of America’s war veterans and those who served in support of them during World War I, World War II, and the Korean, Vietnam, and Persian Gulf wars.

Source: Veterans History Project (Library of Congress)

Current Affairs

History of Veterans Day – Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs

“History of Veterans Day

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.”

Soldiers of the 353rd Infantry near a church at Stenay, Meuse in France.

Soldiers of the 353rd Infantry near a church at Stenay, Meuse in France, wait for the end of hostilities. This photo was taken at 10:58 a.m., on November 11, 1918, two minutes before the armistice ending World War I went into effect.”

via History of Veterans Day – Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs.

Current Affairs

Veterans Day (holiday) — Encyclopedia Britannica

“Alternate title: Armistice Day

Veterans Day, in the United States, national holiday (November 11) honouring veterans of the armed forces and those killed in the country’s wars. The observance originated in 1919 on the first anniversary of the 1918 armistice that ended World War I and was known as Armistice Day. It was commemorated in 1921 with the burial of an unknown soldier from World War I at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. Other countries that had lost soldiers in the conflict, such as Italy and Portugal, conducted similar ceremonies that year. The previous year, unknown soldiers had been interred at Westminster Abbey in London, Eng., and at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France.”


http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/129283527

via Veterans Day (holiday) — Encyclopedia Britannica.