Veterans Day


Veterans Day

Veterans Day is observed in United States as the federal holiday celebrated in honouring of the people who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. The people are collectively known as veterans. It’s an annual holiday celebrated each year on 11th November. This holiday is exclusively celebrated in U.S while as other nations of the world celebrate lookalike holidays which go by the names of Armistice Day and Remembrance Day. This day is the concluding anniversary of the WWI besides being the day when Armistice went into effect with Germany. Veterans Day is entirely different from Memorial Day because Veterans Day is observed in honour of all U.S. military veterans, while as in case of Memorial Day, it is a day observed in remembrance of all the military servicemen who sacrificed their lives for the progress and progress of their nation.

The resolution for the observance of this day on 11th November was passed by U.S congress in 1926 which was officially approved by Calvin Coolidge, the President of U.S on 13thMay 1938. It was then known as Armistice Day in United Sates. However after world war II took place, Veteran Raymond Weeks shared his idea of celebrating Veterans say in honour of all the Veterans of U.S and not just that Veterans who sacrificed their lives in World War I.   

This idea received a positive approach from Gen. Dwight Eisenhower and gave rise to National Veterans day. After that Weeks celebrated Veterans Day annually until he died in 1985, whereas his first Veterans Day celebration started from Alabama in 1947. Looking at the contributions of weeks in this field, he was honored with the prestigious Presidential Citizenship Medal in the year 1982 and Weeks was declared as “Father of Veterans Day” by President Reagan.

Although the idea of Veterans Day celebration was framed by Weeks but this holiday was officially named as Veterans Day only after Congress altered the bill and replaced "Armistice" with "Veterans". In comprehension of Veterans Day, National Veterans Award was introduced in 1954 and was for the first time awarded to Rees in Birmingham for his firm support in making this holiday a federal holiday. Being a federal Holiday, multiple schools and servicemen get a day off on this day. Besides that all the non obligatory federal departments are closed on Veterans Day and mailing service is also turned down.

 However all the officers and workers are paid for this day and even some workers are paid extra in case they have to work for this day also. Besides the observance of Veterans Day, another essential thing is the occasion of United States Marine Corps Birthday taking place one day after Veterans day and that why that segment of Armed Forces observe 96 hour liberty period comprising of these two holidays altogether. The most popular and essential custom for the observance of Veterans Day is to teach the importance and history behind the celebration of this day to the children and organise essay competitions and debates regarding the history of this day. This will also introduce the seed of love for U.S Armed Forces and they will tend to realise what it’s like to work as a Veteran.


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