We Pay Respect on Veterans Day

ORIGINALLY ARMISTICE DAY

Veterans Day is our official day to honor veterans. The observance began as Armistice Day which marked the end of World War I hostilities. On November 11, 1919 President Woodrow Wilson declared:

To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.

The end of World War I combat was declared the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month — 11 o’clock, November 11, 1918. World War I had engulfed the world’s great economic powers into two opposing alliances locked in a bloody struggle for survival. Over 9 million combatants and 7 million civilians died as a result of using industrial production and technological sophistication to build vast war machines.

Years later, in 1938, Congress passed a law making November 11 of each year a legal holiday describing it as “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day.'”

EVOLUTION TO VETERANS DAY

After World War II, in 1945, an idea took hold to honor all veterans on Armistice Day. Instead of limiting Armistice Day to honoring World War I veterans, the idea of Armistice Day turned into honoring all American veterans from the conflicts of the past and the wars of the future. In 1954 Congress codified the idea by passing a law replacing the word “Armistice” with “Veterans.” Thus, the People of the United States, by their representatives, created Veterans Day.

OUR TEAM OBSERVES VETERANS DAY

On Veterans Day weekend, Friday and Saturday, Bosley & Bratch partnered with dozens of social service providers across a broad spectrum to help veterans at two Stand Downs in Indiana. Tippecanoe County, Indiana and Howard County, Indiana both conducted Stand Downs where Bosley & Bratch provided veterans with the opportunity to speak with a lawyer on issues ranging from homelessness to disability compensation to dependency compensation. Dozens and dozens of veterans walked into the Kokomo, Indiana, VFW and the Tippecanoe County, Indiana, Fairgrounds to receive the gratitude and respect of service providers along with help ranging from hair-cuts to dental exams to sleeping bags to legal advice. To borrow Woodrow Wilson’s words from nearly a century ago, we are filled with solemn pride to thank, honor, and pay respect to America’s veterans on Veterans Day at both of these Stand Downs.