Veterans Day

The VETERANS DAY holiday is here and for most, as at Lincoln today, there is no school. Many of our traditions and reasons behind what our various holidays are about are not taught to our students as deliberately as our subjects of math and English. Since there is no school today, as with most holidays, not much on the cultural significance of our holidays will be able to be presented in the school setting. Letting that continue tends to erode the significance of these holidays and move our young people away from important parts of our past that should not be forgotten. This short posting is here to be sure that some available knowledge in this area is presented to be passed on so that we can try to turn that trend around.

We are at another yet another legal holiday, and for many, the reason for creating it is not clear. It is a National Holiday, and was begun in November 19, 1919, when President Woodrow Wilson

It began as “Armistice Day” to commemorate the end of World War I, which was referred to then as “The Great War” since they didn’t anticipate another big war like that one to happen again. The “Treaty of Versailles,” officially ending the war, was signed on June 19, 1919, but the fighting stopped seven months earlier, on November 11, 1918. It happened on “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.”

“Armistice Day” became “Veterans Day” in 1954 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation making November 11th the date that this holiday will be observed.

That’s it in brief, but for more details, you can see on the web, the Department of Veterans Affairs page about the “History of Veterans Day” at http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp .

The holiday is a way to commemorate service to the country of persons, as veterans now, in a different way than Memorial Day, where the country remembers the memory of lives lost of service personnel by those still here to benefit from their service.

Lincoln High School has historically had many alumni become members in the many branches of military service to this country and this note is to give the recognition to those still with us and to pause a moment to reflect on those who have passed on during their active service or in later years. The veterans from Lincoln High School can be found in many different jobs and in many different parts of the country and the world.

Let this be our modest way of saying to all of them “Thanks for your service” to all of them.