This past
week we celebrated another national holiday, Labor Day.
Three
months ago around Memorial Day I meant to look up the exact definitions for
three similar sounding holidays: Veterans, Memorial, and Labor Day.
Its not
that I am against having off on these Federal holidays but I feel it is wrong
to allow my ignorance to continue through another season.
Veterans
Day is the most important to me out of these three. I feel that the reason for
this day could not be more obvious or necessary. We live in a land that
guarantees us many freedoms we are privileged enough to ignore on a daily
basis. Those men and women as well as their families sacrifice an awful lot so
they deserve a day of praise. Actually they probably deserve an entire year
dedicated solely to them.
My
fondness of Veterans Day (http://thequeenoff-ckingeverything.blogspot.com/2013/11/for-veterans-mine-yours-and-ours.html)
has to due with a personal story. My uncle is a veteran of the Vietnam War and
recently he has honored me by sharing his story from the time he was drafted
until the day he returned home. It was an intense yet enlightening experience
for me.
The
establishment of Veterans Day traces its history back to the end of World War
I. It was officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed despite the
fact that fighting had already ended. The official term is armistice, which is
the original name for Veterans Day. Armistice Day began “on the eleventh hour
of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.” The following year, 1919, was the
very first official Armistice Day celebration.
On May
13, 1938 Congress made November 11th a national holiday no matter
what day it falls on each year. At that time the holiday was still known as
Armistice Day. It is not until 1954 when President Eisenhower signed
legislation legally changing Armistice Day to Veterans Day. Now Veterans Day
would be to honor the veterans of ALL wars.
Memorial
Day was originally known as Decoration Day. It is a date created to remember
those that have died in the line of military duty. I found it fascinating that
this day of remembrance was born about from the Civil War. The name Decoration
Day was fitting, as it was not to celebrate any one person or battle. On that
first Decoration Day General James Garfield held a ceremony at Arlington
National Ceremony in Virginia honoring the twenty thousand troops (on both sides)
buried there.
Similar
to the story of Samuel Wilson and his hometown of Troy, New York (see previous
blog) Memorial Day too triggers several towns claiming to be the one where this
holiday was originated. Officially Waterloo, New York wins this title from
President Lyndon Johnson in 1966, however I couldn’t find out the reasoning
behind it. Congress passed the
National Holiday Act of 1971 claiming the last Monday every year as Memorial
Day.
Labor Day
however was an idea much earlier in our country’s timeline. During the late
1880s the notion of having a so-called Labor Day was being tossed around.
Though the inventor is not clearly known, what we know for sure is that the
first Labor Day was celebrated in 1882 by the Central Labor Union in New York City.
After the 1883 festival, this holiday began an annual tradition gaining more
and more traction each year.
It would
be during these years that each state would sign on and begin declaring their
own Labor Days. These days were meant to be spent attending parades and
festivities with the workers and their families. That is why having off on this
day was so important to the celebration.
From that
day to this, this annual holiday honors the workers who make this country
great, thus it is no surprise a union was behind its passage.
According
to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs:
“The
Uniform Holiday Bill was signed on June 28, 1968, and was intended to ensure
three-day weekends for Federal employees by celebrating four national holidays
on Mondays: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus
Day. It was thought that these extended weekends would encourage travel,
recreational and cultural activities and stimulate greater industrial and
commercial production.”
After
diving deeper into the individual stories of these holidays I have a greater
understanding and appreciation of each one. I like knowing how far back they
can be traced and what their original intent was. Going forward I will always
have this information on my mind when the time rolls around.
Veterans,
Memorial, and Labor Days are each special in its own right. They provide us
time in our busy lives to stop and remember those in the past who created our
future. The extraordinary events that inspired these holidays should always be
apart of our annual celebrations.
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