Veterans Day: A Day for Peace or for War? by Ann Wright

Tuesday 13 November 2007

Could you ever imagine that Veterans Day was originally enacted as a day for world peace? Not by the way veterans who stand for peace are treated in Veterans Day ceremonies! Yet, according to the Veterans Affairs web site, Veterans Day, formerly known as Armistice Day, was originally a US legal holiday to honor the end of World War I and to honor the need for world peace.

When it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, to honor the end of World War I, the US Congress stated: Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations. In 1938, the US Congress codified its earlier resolution by legislation naming November 11 as Armistice Day and dedicating the day "to the cause of world peace." In 1954, after World War II and the Korean Conflict, Congress - at the urging of the veterans service organizations - amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, November 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars and a national holiday still dedicated to "the cause of world peace."

Yet, now we have many Veterans Day organizers who want to silence "peace" on Veterans Day. This past weekend we "celebrated" Veterans Day, a day for all veterans and a day for "world peace", or so I thought, until I went to Long Beach, California. Like so many aspects of our military, events surrounding Veterans Day have been privatized. The City of Long Beach has given Veterans Day to a private group, a group that decides which veterans can participate in a Veterans Day parade.

The private organizers in Long Beach said veterans groups that are against the war and for peace were not allowed to march in the parade, as they did not have the proper "spirit." Yet, the legislation enacting Veterans Day states that "the cause of world peace" is the goal of Veterans Day. Private citizens who have never served in the military are authorized by the City of Long Beach to decide what Veterans Day stands for and which veterans are the "real" veterans - the veterans who meet their agenda.

more . . . http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111307R.shtml

so sad for them. This is supposed to be 'our' country, and vets should 'at least' have a say, most especially for peace. There's something really wrong when thinking of depriving vets of their say is ever acceptable-to anyone.

Veterans day began as a combination of mourning for the fact that these men and women gave their lives, or came close to doing so, in such a useless exercise as war, and also as a hope that such instances would never again arise. It was a day of respect and introspection, to pay respect for what has been lost in terms of lives, blood, and dreams, and to press for a day where "veteran" would be an outdated term.

Nowadays? It's a celebration of bloodshed and strife. Television plays us such classics as Rambo, Red Dawn and other such movies that glorify war. Men and women who have shed blood in the exercise are dragged away in cuffs by other men and women who's only sacrifice has been giving up that extra bavarian creme donut that morning. For what crime? Daring to oppose the continuation of war. Daring to show that the day is more than an excuse for a day off work to watch shitty movies about a shittier practice.