How did Veterans Day start?
The guns fell silent at exactly 11:00 a.m. It was November 11, 1918 – the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. After four years of fighting that killed more than 16 million people, World War I was over.
This is the story behind the history of Veterans Day …
An armistice had been signed in a railway carriage in the forest of Compiègne, France, just hours earlier. When the ceasefire took effect, soldiers on both sides simply stopped shooting and stood up from their trenches.
The silence, survivors said, was deafening.
President Woodrow Wilson declared November 11, 1919, as the first Armistice Day. “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride,” he proclaimed.
For years, the day honored one thing: the end of the Great War. In 1926, Congress passed a resolution making it an annual observance. In 1938, it became a federal holiday – a day dedicated to the cause of world peace and to the veterans of World War I.
But history didn’t stop with one war.
The man who changed everything
In 1945, a Navy veteran named Raymond Weeks returned home to Birmingham, Alabama. World War II had just ended. More than 16 million Americans had served – the largest mobilization in the nation’s history. Over 400,000 of them never came home.
Weeks looked at the calendar and saw November 11 approaching. He respected what Armistice Day stood for. But something didn’t sit right with him.
Why were they only honoring the veterans of one war?
Weeks believed that every man and woman who served deserved recognition, not just those who fought in the trenches of France. He decided to do something about it.
In 1946, Weeks led a delegation from Alabama all the way to Washington, D.C. He walked into the Pentagon and personally delivered a petition to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, then the Army Chief of Staff, asking him to support a national day honoring all veterans.
Eisenhower didn’t dismiss him. He listened. And he supported the idea. The general arranged for General Omar Bradley to speak at the first celebration and sent Weeks a telegram expressing hope that what Birmingham was doing would spread across the nation.
It did.
The first Veterans Day
On November 11, 1947, Birmingham, Alabama, held the first celebration in the country to use the term “Veterans Day.” The city hosted a parade and a World Peace Banquet. It wasn’t a federal holiday yet – it was just one city, one veteran, and one powerful idea.
But the movement grew. Year after year, Weeks organized commemorations in Birmingham. Other cities took notice. The state of Kansas, Eisenhower’s home state, joined in. More states followed.
Then came the moment Weeks had been working toward. In 1954, President Eisenhower — the same general Weeks had petitioned eight years earlier – signed legislation changing Armistice Day to Veterans Day.
The bill, introduced by U.S. Representative Edward H. Rees of Kansas, struck the word “Armistice” from the law and replaced it with “Veterans.” With that single change, November 11 went from honoring one war’s end to honoring every American who ever wore the uniform.
Eisenhower called upon Americans everywhere to rededicate themselves to the cause of peace. He also issued a presidential order creating the Veterans Day National Committee to oversee the holiday’s observance.
A WWII veteran from Birmingham had changed American history.
The day America almost lost
But the story doesn’t end there. Veterans Day faced an unexpected threat – not from enemies abroad, but from Congress itself.
In 1968, lawmakers passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. The idea was simple: move several federal holidays to Mondays to create more three-day weekends. Veterans Day was shifted to the fourth Monday in October.
The travel and tourism industry had pushed for the change, arguing more long weekends would boost the economy. But veterans were furious.
“We look at this as a legislative distortion of history,” American Legion commander William C. Doyle said at the time. The date November 11 wasn’t arbitrary, it carried the weight of millions of lives and a moment that changed the world.
When the new date took effect in 1971, confusion spread across the country. States refused to comply. By 1974, 46 out of 50 states had either switched back to November 11 or simply ignored the federal date altogether.
Congress got the message.
In 1975, President Gerald Ford signed legislation returning Veterans Day to November 11, effective in 1978. The date’s historical significance, Ford acknowledged, reflected the desires of the overwhelming majority of Americans.
November 11 belonged to the veterans. And the veterans weren’t giving it up.
The Father of Veterans Day
Raymond Weeks never stopped. From that first parade in 1947, he led Birmingham’s Veterans Day celebration every single year, serving as chairman of the National Veterans Day organization until his death.
On Veterans Day 1982, President Ronald Reagan honored Weeks at the White House on national television. Reagan called him the “driving force” behind the national holiday and presented him with the Presidential Citizens Medal – one of the highest civilian honors in the country.
Weeks had been recognized, at last, as the “Father of Veterans Day.”
He passed away on May 6, 1985, at the age of 76. A memorial monument was dedicated in his honor on Veterans Day, 1989, in Birmingham’s Linn Park – just blocks from where that first parade had marched more than forty years earlier.
Veterans Day meaning
Today, the Veterans Day National Ceremony is held each year at Arlington National Cemetery. At 11:00 a.m. – that same 11th hour – a wreath is placed at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. A bugler sounds Taps. The nation pauses.
Veterans Day is not Memorial Day. Memorial Day honors those who died in service. Veterans Day honors everyone who served – the living and the fallen, the combat veteran and the peacetime soldier, every man and woman who raised their right hand and took the oath.
It’s a day that almost didn’t exist. It took one veteran from Alabama who believed the country could do better. Raymond Weeks proved that a single citizen, armed with nothing but conviction, can reshape how an entire nation honors its own.
Every November 11, when flags fly and ceremonies begin, America answers the question Weeks spent his life asking: Will you honor all who served?
The answer, carried on every flag that flies that day, is yes.
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About the author
Barry Mason is a proud third-generation American whose grandfather served in World War II. Born and raised in small-town Tennessee, Barry developed a deep appreciation for American history and traditions from an early age, learning about the sacrifices made by previous generations. Barry has spent over a decade writing about flag etiquette, patriotic traditions, military history, and the stories behind America's most cherished symbols. When he's not researching the fascinating history of Old Glory, you can find Barry volunteering at veterans' events, coaching youth baseball, or exploring America's national parks with his family. A firm believer in supporting American manufacturing and small businesses, Barry is passionate about celebrating the craftspeople who keep American traditions alive. He lives with his wife and two children in a home where the American flag flies proudly every day. Favorite quote: "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction." - Ronald Reagan
