Important Facts That You Should Know about Veterans Day
Veterans Day is a federal holiday which honors all of those who have served in the US military. It is being held annually every 11th of November. It commemorates the anniversary of the signing of the armistice, an agreement which ended the World War I hostilities between the Allied nations and Germany in 1918.
Here are important facts that you should know about Veterans Day:
With regards to the spelling
As the US Department of Veterans Affairs stated, this event is properly spelled as ‘Veterans Day,’ and not as Veteran’s Day or Veterans’ Day. With Veterans Day, having an “s” at the end of “veterans” means it is honoring all veterans.
Its origins
Veterans Day was originally known as Armistice Day, which is a day that marks the signing of an agreement that ended World War I on November 11, 1918. In 1954, it was changed to Veterans Day to honor those who have served in the military.
In the year 1926, there was a resolution passed by the Congress that established the Veterans Day as an annual observance while in 1938, they declared it as a national holiday.
Let’s look at the figures
In the US, about 23.2 million of its citizens are military veterans. Out of those numbers, there are 9.2 million who are are older than age 65, 1.9 million who are younger than 35 and 1.8 million are female. On the other hand, 33% of all living veterans or about 7.8 million of US veterans served during the Vietnam War.
Veterans Day and Memorial Day
There‘s another event that is commonly confused with Veterans Day: the Memorial Day. The difference is that the Veterans Day pays tribute to all those who served in the military, while the Memorial Day honours those who had died in service to their country.
National Ceremony
Every November 11 of each year, there’s a Veterans Day National Ceremony which is being held at Arlington National Cemetery. The ceremony which starts in the morning is characterized with a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns. It then continues inside the Memorial Amphitheater with a parade of colors by veterans’ organizations and there are also remarks from dignitaries.
