11/11/11 at the Front. |
Note: Adapted from earlier blog posts.
11/11/11. That’s how Americans remembered the Armistice that
went into effect on November 11, 1918 at 11 A.M. local time in France ending
hostilities on the Western Front in what was up to that time the most
catastrophically bloody war in
history. The German High Command signed the armistice just two
days after revolutionaries in Berlin overthrew Kaiser Wilhelm and
proclaimed a Republic. The shooting part of the Great War was
over. It would not officially end until the Treaty of Versailles was
signed on June 28, 1919.
President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation declaring the day as Armistice Day,
an occasion for national Thanksgiving
and prayer. Americans and the
world were thankful, but they were more in the mood for wild celebration that
day than for sober reflection and prayer. From the great cities of Europe to the simplest of rural American villages spontaneous
celebrations erupted in the streets.
By the time of the first anniversary
most Allied nations had officially adopted November 11 as a
holiday. In the United States, where holiday proclamations were
traditionally left to the states,
only a handful had yet designated a formal holiday. But with troops only
recently come home, cities and towns across the country marked the day with
parades and speeches.
Like towns and cities across the country, Woodstock, Illinois celebrated Armistice Day with a parade around the Square on November 11, 1919. |
The spread of the day as an official holiday was promoted by veterans’
organizations. One such organization was envisioned by Colonel
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. as a group analogous to the Grand Army of the
Republic, the organization of Civil War Veterans which dominated
American public life for more than 50 years. Within days of the
Armistice Roosevelt gathered officers in Paris
to plan for the organization. In March 1919 the Paris Caucus of
over 1000 officers and enlisted men adopted a temporary
constitution and the name American Legion. Congress granted the
Legion a charter in September and a founding convention was held in Minneapolis,
Minnesota over three days that coincided with the 1919 Armistice
celebrations.
Unlike the Veterans of Foreign
Wars (VFW), an existing organization of Spanish Civil War,
Philippine Insurrection, Boxer Rebellion, and Mexican Expeditionary veterans
which began accepting Great War veterans into their existing network of Posts,
the American Legion had a distinct ideological
tone. From the beginning, its leadership was in ultra-conservative hands and some were eager to mobilize the ranks
in campaigns against the Red Menace of the post war period. Legion officers often encouraged their
members to act as organized strike
breakers.
On that same Armistice Day in 1919,
an American Legion parade in Centralia, Washington, the heart of lumber country and long running labor strife,
broke ranks on a pre-arranged signal and attacked the local hall of the Industrial Workers of
the World (IWW).
Wobblies in the hall opened fire in self defense as the Legionaries
tried to charge up the stairs. Four Legionaries were killed in the attack
and several others were wounded inside the hall in a confusing melee before
most of the union men were disarmed. Wesley Everest, himself a
veteran and in uniform, escaped although wounded and was chased down to the
river where he shot two or more of his pursuers before being overwhelmed.
That night a mob of Legionaries,
with the complicity of authorities, seized the wounded Everest from his jail cell, dragged him behind an automobile,
castrated him, and hung him from a railroad bridge. Several IWW members
including those captured in the hall and others tracked down by posses in a massive man hunt were put
on trial. Eight Wobblies were convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to long prison terms. No
Legionnaires were charged in the initial assault.
Although the rival veterans’
organizations both campaigned for the establishment of Armistice Day as an
official Holliday and supported wounded veterans, their emphasis, and political
agendas, were clearly different. The VFW was more interested in obtaining
benefits and support for veterans while the Legion promoted respect for the
military and “patriotism.” The VFW spearheaded the campaigns that resulted
in the first Veteran’s medical benefits,
vocational training for wounded
veterans, the establishment of the Veteran’s Bureau, and an act of Congress
to pay Great War veterans a Bonus in 1942.
When the Depression hit
veterans especially hard, the VFW endorsed efforts to get Congress to authorize
an early payment of the promised Bonus. Although not officially
supporters of the Bonus March on Washington in 1932, they were outraged
when troops under General Douglas MacArthur violently dispersed the
demonstrators and destroyed their camp. The Legion, on the other hand,
supported the Army.
In the early days of the Franklin
Roosevelt administration some Legion leaders were involved in the aborted
plot to stage a military coup
against the President and replace him with a military Man on a White
Horse. They planned to use legion members as Italian Fascists
and German Nazis had used their Black and Brown Shirts, largely drawn from the ranks of their own
veterans.
When the Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier was dedicated on Armistice Day 1921, a onetime Federal Holiday was
declared. In 1926 a Congressional Resolution proclaimed the “recurring
anniversary of should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and
exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual
understanding between nations” and that the president should issue an annual
proclamation calling for the observance of Armistice Day. It still fell
short of the declaration of a Federal holiday. At the time 27 states had
official observances. Spread of the holiday, although popular with the
public, was strongly opposed by business
interests.
On May 13, 1938 Congress finally
approved of a Federal Holiday on November 11 “dedicated to the cause of world
peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day.’”
By then another world catastrophe
was on the horizon. After World War II veterans organizations and
the public were both divided between creating a new public holiday making the
end of that war, mostly likely on V-J (Victory over Japan) Day,
or if Armistice Day should be renamed to include the new wave of
veterans. Veterans of World War I, as the first conflict was now
called, were united in their desire to keep Armistice Day for themselves.
The huge wave of young vets was split. What ever happened, business
interests were strongly opposed to the creation of any more Federal holidays
for any reason.
Finally the issue was settled when
on June 4, 1954 with a whole new crop of veterans from the Korean War
already coming home, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Act of
Congress that transformed Armistice Day into Veterans Day.
Typical of Veteran's Day promotions emphasizing all wars and service. |
Traditionalists still
grumbled. But they were really given something to complain about in 1968
when Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill, which sought to ensure
three-day weekends for federal employees and to encourage tourism and travel by
celebrating four national holidays, Washington's Birthday, Memorial
Day, Veterans Day and Columbus Day on Mondays. Federal
Veterans Day was moved to the last Monday in October. When the first
observance under the new scheme was held on October 21, 1971 the public was
outraged and most states refused to go along, maintaining November 11 as the
state holidays. In many states that meant two observances—and competing
claims for paid holiday by workers in private industry covered by labor
contracts. Businesses hated that.
Bowing to public pressure President
Gerald Ford signed a new law returning the observation of Veterans Day to
November 11th beginning in 1978. If November 11 falls on a Saturday or Sunday,
the Federal government observes the holiday on the previous Friday or following
Monday.
In recent years the mid-week
observance of Veterans Day has lowered its public profile. Fewer and
fewer cities and towns held Veterans Day parades. Participation in local
commemorations faded as first the World War I veterans passed and then the
ranks of World War II and Korean Veterans
shrank. Veterans of the unpopular Vietnam War often felt unwelcome
in Legion and VFW posts and were stigmatized by the public as troubled and
possibly dangerous.
Veterans organizations became
outraged as a wide-spread movement to “keep kids in school” resulted in
Veterans Day being dropped as a school
holiday in many places. Ironically, with school in session and many
state legislatures mandating veterans’ curricula on that day, the holiday may
have gotten a boost in interest from students who previously would have just
enjoyed a day away from studies.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
produced new rounds of veterans, many of them National Guardsmen and
Reservists, older soldiers with deep roots in their home
communities. They are giving the day new meaning.
Both pro and anti-war people have
used the day to advance their causes. Despite the predictably bellicose
stance of the national leadership of the American Legion and to a lesser
extent the VFW, most of these new veterans adamantly refuse to allow the
holiday to be politicized. They want to honor the service of all veterans
regardless of opinions on the war by the public—or by the veterans themselves.
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