By Mark Scott, executive director of Market MontGOmery Chamber & Tourism • Sunday, Nov. 11, is Veterans Day. The local commemoration centers mostly in Troy, where the following events are scheduled on Saturday:
8 a.m.: Breakfast for veterans at the Troy Senior Building
9:30 a.m.: Patriotic ceremony at Troy Town Hall
11 a.m.: Veterans Day parade begins. (Parade lineup is at Page Street Elementary School beginning at 10:15 a.m.)
To get ready for the big day, here are some fun facts to keep in mind:
- Veterans Day is not considered the day belonging to veterans but rather a day to honor veterans, so proper grammatical usage does not have an apostrophe.
- Veterans Day was originally Armistice Day, started in 1918 when the armistice with Germany went into effect and major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Veterans Day honors veterans who served in the United States armed forces. That is not to be confused with Armed Forces Day which is the third Saturday in May and honors those currently serving in the U.S. military. Nor should it be confused with Memorial Day, observed the last Monday in May each year to honor those who lost their lives while serving in our country’s armed forces.
- The United States Congress adopted a resolution on June 4, 1926, requesting that President Calvin Coolidge issue annual proclamations calling for the observance of Nov. 11 with appropriate ceremonies.
- A congressional act approved on May 13, 1939, made Nov. 11 an annual legal holiday: “A day dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as Armistice Day.”
- In 1945, WWII veteran Raymond Weeks had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans. Weeks led the first national celebration in 1947 and President Ronald Reagan honored him with the Presidential Citizenship Medal in 1982 as the driving force behind the holiday.
- On June 1, 1954, Congress amended the bill replacing the word “Armistice” with “Veterans,” and it has been known as Veterans Day ever since.