Col Ann Wright: Veterans Day: A Day for Peace or A Day for War?

Veterans Day: A Day for Peace or A Day for War?
Submitted by davidswanson on Tue, 2007-11-13 16:41. Media

By Ann Wright, Colonel, US Army Reserves (Retired)


Could you ever imagine that Veterans Day was originally enacted as a day for world peace? Not by the way veterans who stand for peace are treated in Veterans Day ceremonies!

Yet, according to Veterans Affairs website, Veterans Day, formerly known as Armistice Day, was originally a U.S. legal holiday to honor the end of World War I and to honor the need for world peace. When it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926 to honor the end of World War I, the US Congress stated:

Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and

Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations;

In 1938 the US Congress codified its earlier resolution by legislation naming November 11 as Armistice Day and dedicating the day “to the cause of world peace.””

In 1954, after World War II and the Korean War, 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 and a national holiday still dedicated to “the cause of world peace.” Yet, now we have many Veterans Day organizers who want to silence “peace” on Veterans Day.
This past weekend we “celebrated” Veterans Day, a day for all Veterans and a day for “world peace”, or so I thought, until I went to Long Beach, California. Like so many aspects of our military, events surrounding Veterans Day have been privatized. The City of Long Beach has given Veterans Day to a private group, a group that decides what veterans can participate in a Veterans’ Day parade.

The private organizers in Long Beach said that veterans groups that are against the war and are for peace were not allowed to march in the parade as they did not have the proper “spirit.” Yet, the legislation enacting Veterans Day states that “the cause of world peace” is the goal of Veterans Day. Private citizens who have never served in the military are authorized by the City of Long Beach to decide what Veterans Day stands for and which veterans are the “real” veterans, the veterans who meet their agenda.

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