Today is Veterans Day. Here is a bit about the History of Veterans Day:
The History of Veterans Day
November 11, or what has come to be known as Veterans Day, was originally set as a U.S. legal holiday to honor Armistice Day – the end of World War I, which officially took place on November 11, 1918. In legislature that was passed in 1938, November 11 was “dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day.’ As such, this new legal holiday honored World War I veterans.
In 1954, after having been through both World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd U.S. Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word “Armistice” and inserting the word “Veterans.” With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, November 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.
In 1968, the Uniforms Holiday Bill ensured three-day weekends for Federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. Under this bill, Veterans Day was moved to the last Monday of October. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holiday on its original date. The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on October 25, 1971.
Finally on September 20, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed a law which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of November 11, beginning in 1978. Since then, the Veterans Day holiday has been observed on November 11.
Celebrating Veterans Day
If the November 11 holiday falls on a non-workday — Saturday or Sunday — the holiday is observed by the federal government on Monday (if the holiday falls on Sunday) or Friday (if the holiday falls on Saturday). Federal government closings are established by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. State and local government closings are determined locally, and non-government businesses can close or remain open as they see fit, regardless of Federal, state or local government operation determinations.
United States Senate Resolution 143, which was passed on August 4, 2001, designated the week of November 11 through November 17, 2001, as “National Veterans Awareness Week.” The resolution calls for educational efforts directed at elementary and secondary school students concerning the contributions and sacrifices of veterans.
For more information and frequently asked questions, visit the VA website. http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetday_faq.asp
About Veterans Day
Veterans Day gives Americans the opportunity to celebrate the bravery and sacrifice of all U.S. veterans. However, most Americans confuse this holiday with Memorial Day, reports the Department of Veterans Affairs. It’s imperative that all Americans know the history of Veterans Day so that we can honor our former service members properly…
http://www.military.com/veterans-day/
Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ are those brave men and women who have served our country and who have made many sacrifices so that we can live under the umbrella of the U.S. Constitution.
The AARP has compiled a great group of Veterans Day quotes:
“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Cynthia Ozick
“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. ”
Veterans Day Quotes by Joseph Campbell
“The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.”
Veterans Day Quotes by George Patton
“When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Chinese Proverb
“It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Dick Cheney
“Nurture your minds with great thoughts, to believe in the heroic makes heroes.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Benjamin Disraeli
“Freedom is never free.”
Veterans Day Quotes
“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Elmer Davis
“I believe it is the nature of people to be heroes, given the chance.”
Veterans Day Quotes by James A. Autry
“I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, “Mother, what was war?“ ”
Veterans Day Quotes by Eve Merriam
“I think there is one higher office than president and I would call that patriot.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Gary Hart
“When our perils are past, shall our gratitude sleep? ”
Veterans Day Quotes by George Canning
“Heroes take journeys, confront dragons, and discover the treasure of their true selves.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Carol Lynn Pearson
“Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.”
“She mourned with a bleak blank determination, marching straight ahead with a shell-shocked vet’s hollow-eyed thousand-yard stare while doing the next thing and the next.”
Veterans Day Quotes by James A. Hetley
“Without heroes, we are all plain people, and don’t know how far we can go.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Bernard Malamud
“In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Jose Narosky
“My heroes are those who risk their lives every day to protect our world and make it a better place–police, firefighters, and members of our armed forces.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Sidney Sheldon
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
Veterans Day Quotes by John Fitzgerald Kennedy Quotes
“Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Michel de Montaigne
“In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Mark Twain
“Lord, bid war’s trumpet cease;
Fold the whole earth in peace.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Oliver Wendell Holmes
“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes! ”
Veterans Day Quotes by Maya Angelou
“But fame is theirs – and future days; On pillar’d brass shall tell their praise; Shall tell – when cold neglect is dead – “These for their country fought and bled.“”
Veterans Day Quotes by Philip Freneau
“But the freedom that they fought for, and the country grand they wrought for, Is their monument to-day, and for aye.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Thomas Dunn English
“The more we sweat in peace the less we bleed in war.”
Veterans Day Quotes by Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.”
Veterans Day Quotes by William Shakespeare
http://www.altiusdirectory.com/Society/veterans-day-quotes.php
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