Today Veterans Day is observed in the United States. It was originally named Armistice Day and commemorated the time the agreement to stop The Great War was signed, at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. After World War I failed to be The War to End All Wars, the U.S. observance was officially renamed Veterans Day in 1954, probably because veterans of later wars vote and dead WWI soldiers don’t, and we already had Memorial Day. Britain still commemorates the WWI Armistice and those who died to achieve it, and today it is known as Remembrance Day in Commonwealth nations.
More:
“History of Veterans Day,” U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
“A day by many names, celebrated all the same,” Jason Duhr, Stars and Stripes
“Why Veterans Day is often confused with Memorial Day,” Valerie Strauss, Washington Post
“Veterans Day is a prayer for peace,” Joe Sacco and Adam Hochschild, Tom Dispatch via Salon
“Why doesn’t the US observe Armistice Day? We’re more comfortable with war than peace,” Rory Fannin, The Guardian
“Veterans Day should actually be about serving veterans,” Libby Nelson, Vox
“Honor Veterans By Considering Revival of National Service,” Ed Kilgore, Washington Monthly blog
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Tags: Armistice Day, eleven-eleven-eleven, history, holidays, November 11th, Remembrance Day, Veterans, Veterans Day
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