Wearing the Uniform
Today is Veterans Day…the day when we honor those who wore the uniform in service to our nation. Over time, our nation’s service men and women may not have gotten the respect they deserved–not because of anything they did, but because of the times and the political fights concerning the conflicts in which they served.
I first learned of it as Armistice Day—that’s what my grandmother called it when I was young, back in the 1960s. That’s because it was Armistice Day until 1954.
The first Armistice Day was on November 11, 1919–one year after The Great War ended. The Great War was the war to end all wars…until the next one barely two decades later. And sadly, there will no doubt be another at some point.
President Woodrow Wilson issued the first Armistice Day proclamation, saying in part, “A year ago today our enemies laid down their arms in accordance with an armistice which rendered them impotent to renew hostilities, and gave to the world an assured opportunity to reconstruct its shattered order and to work out in peace a new and more just set of international relations.”
Congress adopted a resolution in 1926, calling upon the President to annually issue proclamations for such a commemoration; they finally passed a law making it a national holiday of remembrance in 1938. And it was there to honor those who served in The Great War until that change in 1954, recognizing all veterans.
We cheapened Veterans Day like so many other holidays by holding it on a Monday for a period of time…but that made it devoid of the true origins. The Great War ended at the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month. To move it to the nearest Monday so folks could get a three-day weekend was disrespectful…that’s why it’s the only holiday moved back to its original day from the random Monday.
I grew up at a time after the military draft. It ended in early 1973, in fact; meaning that each and every person to take the oath and put the uniform on for the first time since then has done so voluntarily.
That’s quite a sacrifice, one most of us would not and did not make. It’s only right to honor them–all of them–as much as possible…but certainly on this, the 11th day of the 11th month.
