In numerology, the number eleven is classified as a Master Number, which carries an abundance of power and energy. It’s no surprise that Veterans Day falls on a day that is abundant with the number eleven. Veterans Day is observed on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year. Though this day marks the conclusion of one specific war, it has evolved to become a celebration of all veterans of all wars, old and new.
Veterans Day finds its origins in 1918. On November 11, 1918, at the eleventh hour of the day, an armistice (a temporary cessation of hostilities) went into effect between the Allied nations of the United States, Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and Japan and the Central Powers of Germany, Bulgaria, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. Though what was then known as The Great War officially concluded seven months later in June 1919 when the Treaty of Versailles was signed, this armistice marked the end of fighting between the two conglomerate forces. In 1919, November 11 was celebrated as Armistice Day, which it was officially named through a 1926 Congressional resolution.
World War I was initially remembered as “the War to end all wars,” but unfortunately that dream was shattered just a few years after WWI ended. Armistice Day continued to be observed in the years that followed, but in 1947, one veteran’s idea sparked change. Raymond Weeks was a World War II veteran who organized “National Veterans Day,” a day of festivities including a parade that was meant to honor all veterans. The event was planned for November 11, 1947. It’s now regarded as the first official observation of Veterans Day as we know it today.
As the years passed, the idea of Veterans Day gained steam, partly due to the two wars America had gone through since WWI: WWII and the Korean War. In 1954, seven years after Weeks’ first National Veterans Day celebration, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill that proclaimed November 11th to now be known as Veterans Day. In 1968, Congress moved the national observance of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October, but in 1975 President Ford returned the observance of Veterans Day to November 11, where it remains to this day. And for his contributions to veterans past, present, and future, Raymond Weeks was honored with the Presidential Citizens Medal in 1982, presented by President Ronald Regan.
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Posted on November 8 2021 in Blog