Page 5 - Aerotech News and Review, November 6, 2020

Five facts to know about Veterans Day

by Katie Lange effect an armistice on the eleventh hour of the observance to its original date starting in 1978. similar to our own, except many of its citizens
DOD News eleventh day of the eleventh month. wear red poppy flowers to honor their war dead.
For that reason, Nov. 11, 1918, was largely Other countries celebrate it, too, in their In Australia, the day is more akin to our Memo-
Veterans Day is a well-known American considered the end of “the war to end all wars” own ways. rial Day.
holiday, but there are also a few misconceptions and dubbed Armistice Day. In 1926, Congress World War I was a multinational effort, so it
about it — like how it’s spelled or whom exactly officially recognized it as the end of the war, and makes sense that our allies also wanted to cel- The United Kingdom calls it “Remembrance
it celebrates. To clear some of that up, here are in 1938, it became an official holiday, primarily ebrate their veterans on Nov. 11. The name of Day,” too, but observes it on the Sunday closest
the important facts you should know. a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I. the day and the types of commemorations differ, to Nov. 11 with parades, services and two min-
But then World War II and the Korean War however. utes of silence around the country to honor those
Veterans Day does NOT have an apos- happened, So on June 1, 1954, at the urging of Canada and Australia both call Nov. 11 “Re- who lost their lives in war. As in Canada, many
trophe. veterans service organizations, Congress amend- membrance Day.” Canada’s observance is pretty citizens wear read poppies to honor their dead.
ed the commemoration yet again by changing the
A lot of people think it’s “Veteran’s Day” or word “armistice” to “veterans” so the day would
“Veterans’ Day,” but they’re wrong. The holi- honor American veterans of all wars.
day is not a day that “belongs” to one veteran or For a while, Veterans Day’s date was changed,
multiple veterans, which is what an apostrophe too, and it confused everybody.
implies. It’s a day for honoring all veterans — so Congress signed the Uniform Holiday Bill in
no apostrophe needed. 1968 to ensure that a few federal holidays —
Veterans Day included -would be celebrated on
Veterans Day is NOT the same as Me- a Monday. Officials hoped it would spur travel
morial Day. and other family activities over a long weekend,
A lot of Americans get this confused, and which would stimulate the economy.
we’ll be honest — it can be a little annoying to For some inexplicable reason, the bill set Vet-
all of the living veterans out there. erans Day commemorations for the fourth Mon-
Memorial Day is a time to remember those day of every October.
who gave their lives for our country, particularly On Oct. 25, 1971, the first Veterans Day un-
in battle or from wounds they suffered in bat- der this new bill was held. We’re not sure why
tle. Veterans Day honors all of those who have it took three years to implement, but not sur-
served the country in war or peace — dead or prisingly, there was a lot of confusion about the
alive — although it’s largely intended to thank change, and many states were unhappy, choosing
living veterans for their sacrifices. to continue to recognize the day as they previ-
ously had — in November.
It was originally called Armistice Day, Within a few years, it became pretty apparent
commemorating the end of World War I. that most U.S. citizens wanted to celebrate Veter-
World War I officially ended when the Treaty ans Day on Nov. 11, since it was a matter of his- Courtesy photograph
of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919. How- toric and patriotic significance. So on Sept. 20,
ever, the fighting ended about seven months be- 1975, President Gerald Ford signed another law President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs HR7786, June 1, 1954. This ceremony changed Armistice
Day to Veterans Day.
fore that when the Allies and Germany put into (Public Law 94-97), which returned the annual

WE’RE ALL IN

THIS TOGETHER.

At Kaiser Permanente, we don’t see
health as an industry. We see it as a
cause. And one that we very much
believe in. During this extraordinary
time we are especially thankful to the
heroism of our frontline workers. And,
we would like to express our deepest
gratitude to all of our outstanding care
teams and individuals who deliver on
the Kaiser Permanente mission each
day to improve the health of our
members and the communities we
serve. We are here to help you thrive.
Learn more at kp.org.

Aerotech News and Review
November 6, 2020 www.aerotechnews.com ........ facebook.com/aerotechnewsandreview 5