Summary
The ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers are fighting an extremist ideology while helping to build needed infrastructure and government institutions, give Veterans Day special urgency. The nation is encountering new types of warfare and its consequences - a tragic reminder of which came last week at Fort Hood - wondering about old enemies and, appropriately, recalling with new respect the veterans of wars past and present. All of this gives the origins of Veterans Day new significance in 2009.
Congress voted for Armistice Day as a legal holiday in 1938, 20 years after the first armistice ended the carnage of World War I on Nov. 11, 1918. Although the first world war was originally called the "war to end all wars," by the late 1930s few believed that hope could still be kept alive. Storm clouds were building in Europe, and on Sept. 1, 1939, World War II began when Hitler's troops invaded Poland.See the full content of this document
Extract
Veterans Day 2009
In 1953 the people of Emporia, Kan., began calling the holiday Veterans Day as a tribute to the veterans of their town. Soon afterward, Congress passed a bill introduced by a ...
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