Friday, October 7th, 2011

Golden Oldie



It is the soldier, not the reporter,
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier,
Who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protestor to burn the flag.


Father Dennis Edward O'Brian, USMC


************



Veterans Day change just didn't stick


Today's question:


Why didn't Veterans Day become a Monday holiday along with Presidents Day,
Memorial Day, Columbus Day and some others?


There are some things you just don't mess with. ...
And Veterans Day (is one of them).


Veterans Day originally was known as Armistice Day and marked the end of
World War I at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918 - 11th hour, 11th day, 11th month.


Congress designated that date as Armistice Day in 1926, and it became a
national holiday in 1938. In 1954, President Eisenhower signed a bill
designating Nov. 11 as Veterans Day.


Then in 1968 came the Uniform Holiday Bill, which shuffled some holidays
to Monday to give a lot of people three-day weekends. This moved Veterans
Day to the last Monday in October.


Do you remember that? Probably not, because most states just ignored it
because they liked having Veterans Day on Nov. 11. The first
last-Monday-in-October Veterans Day was celebrated Oct. 25, 1971, and
pretty much just confused and annoyed everyone.


In 1975, President Ford signed a law that took Veterans Day back to
Nov. 11, and it's been that way since 1978. Why did it take three
years? Don't ask me, I don't know.


When Nov. 11 falls on a Sunday, the holiday is observed on Monday. If it's
on Saturday, the holiday is observed on Friday.


As near as I can tell, the reason Veterans Day didn't catch on as a Monday
holiday just seems to be the historic significance of the date - the whole
11-11-11 thing. People just want it to be on Nov. 11 and, by golly, it's
going to be on Nov. 11.


So what's the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day?


Did your grandma use to call Memorial Day Decoration Day? Mine did.


The idea is that on Memorial Day, we remember and honor all those men and
women who lost their lives fighting for their country.


And the idea is that on Veterans Day, we honor all those who served in war
or peace, the living and dead.
...


-Clay Thompson
Arizona Republic
Nov. 7, 2005