VETERANS DAY: An annual U.S. federal holiday honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces
AGN.News Team
November 11, 2022
WASHINGTON (AGN.News) – Veterans Day is an annual celebration in honor of the many women and men who served in various positions in the United States military.
These local Veterans Day celebrations are held in communities all over the country, from small rural communities the large urban areas. Parades, speeches, award ceremonies, carnivals, and banquets are all part of today’s events.
All across the land, people are thanking our veterans for their service to the United States. Some are thanked with gifts, offers of support, and job offers. Many are wounded veterans who served in war zones with distinction. Social gatherings (large and small) are common.
States supports Women’s Veterans Day
Additionally, Women Veterans Day is recognized by a growing number of U.S. states that specifically honor women who have served in the US military.
Women, like men, have given their all in war and peace in support of the country. Many women in uniform have given their lives in service to America.
Today, many women veterans have memories of their time in military service. They deserve recognition for their sacrifices. Know a female veteran? Thank them for their service!
History of Veterans Day
Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces (who were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable).
It coincides with other holidays including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day which are celebrated in other countries that mark the anniversary of the end of World War I.
Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. At the urging of major U.S. veteran organizations, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.
Veterans Day supports all veterans
On November 11, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson issued a message to his countrymen on the first Armistice Day, in which he expressed what he felt the day meant to Americans:
He said, “To us in America the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service, and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of nations.”
Congress supports all veterans
A Congressional Act approved May 13, 1938, made November 11 in each year a legal holiday: “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day'”.
In 1945, World War II veteran Raymond Weeks from Birmingham, Alabama, had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans, not just those who died in World War I.
President Reagan honored Weeks at the White House with the Presidential Citizenship Medal in 1982 as the driving force for the National Veterans Day holiday.
Former United States Senator for North Carolina, Elizabeth Dole, who prepared the briefing for President Reagan, determined Weeks was the “Father of Veterans Day”.
U.S. Korean war aviators
As we celebrate Veterans Day, we should remember the sacrifices of these veterans. Many left their families and friends behind. They joined the armed forces and gave their lives for our families so they might live and prosper.
Jesse LeRoy Brown (13 October 1926 – 4 December 1950), born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to an impoverished family, was a United States Navy officer.
Brown was the first African American aviator to complete the U.S. Navy’s basic flight training program, was a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the first African-American naval officer killed in the Korean War.
Brown died in battle for America
Brown graduated as salutatorian of his high school, notwithstanding its racial segregation, and was later awarded a degree from Ohio State University. Brown enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1946, becoming a midshipman.
Brown earned his pilot wings on October 21, 1948 amid a flurry of press coverage; in January 1949 he was assigned to Fighter Squadron 32 (VF-32) aboard the aircraft carrier USS Leyte.
At the outset of the Korean War, Leyte was ordered to the Korean Peninsula, arriving in October 1950. During the Korean War, VF-32 flew F4U-4 Corsair fighters in support of United Nations forces.
Brown, an ensign, had already flown 20 combat missions when his Corsair came under fire and crashed on a remote mountaintop on 4 December 1950, while supporting ground troops at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.
Brown died of his wounds despite the efforts of his wingman, Thomas J. Hudner Jr., who intentionally crashed his own aircraft nearby in a rescue attempt, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor.
Brown’s life in the segregated and desegregated U.S. military has been memorialized in books and film, including the 2022 film Devotion. The frigate USS Jesse L. Brown (FF-1089, a Knox-class frigate of the United States Navy, was named in his honor.
Support for America’s veterans
Today’s events may pass – but not our support for veterans nor our desire to support wounded veterans. If you know of a veteran who’s in need of assistance, reach out and offer your support.
Those with job openings can seek out veterans and offer them a job or job training. Thank them for their service!
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