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eruthrosHow sad is it that the only way I ever remember which one is Veterans Day and which one is Memorial Day is by logical deduction? And I have to do it every single time?
Because "Veterans Day" means nothing to me, historically. To get to the date, I have to do the whole "okay, Veterans Day. That's what we changed the name of Armistice Day to in the 50s, because of course it wasn't the armistice of WWII or the Korean War. And armistice of WWI was 11/11 at 11 am on a train. So Veterans Day must be the one in November and Memorial Day the one in May."
It does, however, mean that I can give you a few little interesting tidbits of history here.
The official recognition of the end of WWI by Congress called it the most "sanguinary" of wars ever in "human annals." Which has nothing to do with the holiday, really, I just love the language -- the most sanguinary of wars!
Anyway, the Brits and the French were way more on top of it than we were, holiday-speaking. Armistice Day in Britain almost instantly became a holiday, and there was this whole two-minutes-of-silence-thing. Whereas here, Wilson declared November 11th 1918 a holiday. But the following year he was all "well, I guess you can sorta celebrate it on the nearest Sunday with your church group or something."
So it took until the mid-'20s for any official recognition -- Congress declared it a sort of ceremonial holiday, but not a legal-holiday-vacation day. There was flag-flying but no time off. Congress didn't make it a legal holiday until the late thirties (by which time, actually, the prelude to WWII had already started -- the official fighting didn't start until '39, but still, isn't that interesting?).
And, actually, it didn't get changed to Veterans Day until after the Korean War, not WWII. Mid-50s. Popular discussion would usually have it that it was changed for the WWII vets, and so tend to locate it in the 40s, but that's not the case. The veterans service orgs of vets from both wars wrote to Congress and lobbied for the change, and both sets are included in the wording of the bill.
Oh, and the whole shebang where we celebrate some legal holidays on Mondays or Fridays to get three-day weekends? That way, way postdates said legal holidays. We used to get the exact days of holidays off, no matter what day of the week. Which really make much more sense if you're looking at the holiday as an important reminder of a certain day in history. The whole "Memorial Day (observed)" thing started in the late '60s, when Congress signed a bill to make four three-day weekends a year. Memorial Day, Columbus Day, Washington's Birthday, and Veterans Day. Because, the logic went, three-day weekends would encourage travel and culture and going to museums and education and things, and thus would improve the economy of the U.S.A. (I bet you didn't know that your three-day weekends were in point of fact a scheme to improve the GDP.)
Only people complained a lot, and mostly about Veterans Day, because people are still alive who witnessed the original day (unlike Columbus Day, which makes people sorta go "eh"). And people think of it as placed on a historically significant date (and I thank Congress for it, since it's the only way I can remember which one is Veterans Day). So about ten years later, whiplash! Congress changed their minds, and now there's no longer Veterans Day (observed). (Which, incidentally, was the fourth Monday in October, of all things.)
Memorial Day, on the other hand, is an arbitrarily designated day. Post-Civil War. Not based on any event. Just "hey everyone, take this day in particular to go decorate graves." No wonder I can never remember when it is.
This post brought to you by overstudying for the A.P. U.S. History exam lo these many years ago. (Page Smith!) From which it can be determined that my major problem with the exam was a complete inability to remember dates -- I always have to go "okay, so that was in year two of Eisenhower, and Eisenhower's term began in 1953, because of course the election was in 1952, so that makes it 1954. Ish."
Because "Veterans Day" means nothing to me, historically. To get to the date, I have to do the whole "okay, Veterans Day. That's what we changed the name of Armistice Day to in the 50s, because of course it wasn't the armistice of WWII or the Korean War. And armistice of WWI was 11/11 at 11 am on a train. So Veterans Day must be the one in November and Memorial Day the one in May."
It does, however, mean that I can give you a few little interesting tidbits of history here.
The official recognition of the end of WWI by Congress called it the most "sanguinary" of wars ever in "human annals." Which has nothing to do with the holiday, really, I just love the language -- the most sanguinary of wars!
Anyway, the Brits and the French were way more on top of it than we were, holiday-speaking. Armistice Day in Britain almost instantly became a holiday, and there was this whole two-minutes-of-silence-thing. Whereas here, Wilson declared November 11th 1918 a holiday. But the following year he was all "well, I guess you can sorta celebrate it on the nearest Sunday with your church group or something."
So it took until the mid-'20s for any official recognition -- Congress declared it a sort of ceremonial holiday, but not a legal-holiday-vacation day. There was flag-flying but no time off. Congress didn't make it a legal holiday until the late thirties (by which time, actually, the prelude to WWII had already started -- the official fighting didn't start until '39, but still, isn't that interesting?).
And, actually, it didn't get changed to Veterans Day until after the Korean War, not WWII. Mid-50s. Popular discussion would usually have it that it was changed for the WWII vets, and so tend to locate it in the 40s, but that's not the case. The veterans service orgs of vets from both wars wrote to Congress and lobbied for the change, and both sets are included in the wording of the bill.
Oh, and the whole shebang where we celebrate some legal holidays on Mondays or Fridays to get three-day weekends? That way, way postdates said legal holidays. We used to get the exact days of holidays off, no matter what day of the week. Which really make much more sense if you're looking at the holiday as an important reminder of a certain day in history. The whole "Memorial Day (observed)" thing started in the late '60s, when Congress signed a bill to make four three-day weekends a year. Memorial Day, Columbus Day, Washington's Birthday, and Veterans Day. Because, the logic went, three-day weekends would encourage travel and culture and going to museums and education and things, and thus would improve the economy of the U.S.A. (I bet you didn't know that your three-day weekends were in point of fact a scheme to improve the GDP.)
Only people complained a lot, and mostly about Veterans Day, because people are still alive who witnessed the original day (unlike Columbus Day, which makes people sorta go "eh"). And people think of it as placed on a historically significant date (and I thank Congress for it, since it's the only way I can remember which one is Veterans Day). So about ten years later, whiplash! Congress changed their minds, and now there's no longer Veterans Day (observed). (Which, incidentally, was the fourth Monday in October, of all things.)
Memorial Day, on the other hand, is an arbitrarily designated day. Post-Civil War. Not based on any event. Just "hey everyone, take this day in particular to go decorate graves." No wonder I can never remember when it is.
This post brought to you by overstudying for the A.P. U.S. History exam lo these many years ago. (Page Smith!) From which it can be determined that my major problem with the exam was a complete inability to remember dates -- I always have to go "okay, so that was in year two of Eisenhower, and Eisenhower's term began in 1953, because of course the election was in 1952, so that makes it 1954. Ish."
no subject
Date: 2004-11-11 11:15 am (UTC)...so, there it is. =:)
no subject
Date: 2004-11-11 02:55 pm (UTC)