Veterans Day is only about two weeks from now, but how many of us have yet to give it any thought and think about: why we have it, the significance of it, what we should be doing “differently” on Veterans Day, and what can we learn from it
To understand Veterans Day, we need to look at it in the overall context of WWI (initially called the Great War) which was the largest war that the USA had fought in since the Civil War and it was the first world wide military conflict. It was started when the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austria-Hungary was visiting Serbia and was assassinated by a Serbian Nationalist on June 28, 1914. Austria-Hungary demanded that Serbia wipe out the terrorist cells in Serbia, but Serbia refused. So Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia to take out the terrorist groups. [Sounds a lot like what is happening in the world today.] While it started as a small conflict; because of the Alliances and joint defense agreements, it quickly became a world wide conflict with the “Central Powers” of Austria-Hungary, Germany, Turkey, and Bulgaria fighting against the “Allies” of Serbia, Russia, France, British Empire, Japan, Italy, Romania, United States, Greece and China. Note that the United Stated didn’t enter the war until 1917 -but more on that in the next trail tip.
Veterans Day was originally called Armistice Day, marking the armistice signed between the Allies of WWI and Germany for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front. The fighting was stopped on the: 11th Month, 11th Day, and 11th Hour [of 1918]. The concept for Armistice Day was to make it a celebration (of the end of the fighting) observed with parades, public meetings and a brief suspension of business at 11 AM. Not unique to the United States, it is also observed in Canada, England, New Zealand, France and other countries. Before or after WWII, the name was changed to Veterans Day in the USA and Remembrance Day in some countries. The difference being that outside of the USA, it specifically for honoring those killed in action, while In the USA, it is set aside to thank and honor all who served honorably in the military in wartime or peacetime, living or dead.
Did you know?
- The Uniform Holiday bill in 1968 was passed to make Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Columbus Day, and Veterans Day; all three day weekends, which made Veterans Day fall on October 25th in 1971 and created a big mess. It was then changed back to November 11th in 1975.
- Daylight Saving Time was started in WWI to provide more evening working hours and save fuel.
- The Influenza Flu Pandemic spread from soldiers return home from the war and between 1918 through the end of 1920, an estimated 50 million people were killed by this flu outbreak with 500 million people (one third of the world) being infected by it. There were 675,000 Americans that died because of this flu verses 53,513 soldiers killed in action. And 25% of the USA population had this flu. Other countries were hit hard as well, for example, India lost about 17M or 5% of population of it’s population at that time.
A trail tip that comes from understanding Veterans Day, is the awareness that we become richer people when we have a better understanding and appreciation of events around us. In hiking there are events like the Leadville Trail 100 mile race and the Pikes Peak Marathon. Do we ever stop to find out how these races were started and what was going through the minds of the organizers when they started them? In our personal life, do we ever stop to reflect on the meaning and history of other Holidays: Labor Day, Presidents’ Day, Martin Luther King Day, Columbus Day; all important holidays that many of us pass by without giving much thought to them. In our “politically correct” world; these Holidays need to be examined in the mindset of the people at the time they were started, so we truly understand their significance at that starting moment. In our work life, there may be special days marking milestones in the company we work for or they have a rich history that we know little or nothing about. Getting answers to these questions will provide more color and life to our world and make us the better for it.
Al Andersen 