FIRST - Veteran's Day Observance - Birmingham, Alabama
N 33° 31.278 W 086° 48.661
16S E 517549 N 3709096
This marker, located in Birmingham's Linn Park, is a memorial to Raymond Weeks, a World War II veteran who organized the first Veteran's Day observance and parade in Birmingham, Alabama on Armistice Day, November 11, 1947.
Waymark Code: WM1XG5
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 07/27/2007
Views: 42
The first celebration using the term Veterans Day occurred in Birmingham , Alabama in 1947. Raymond Weeks, a World War II veteran, organized "National Veterans Day," which included a parade and other festivities, to honor all veterans. The event was held on November 11, then designated Armistice Day. Later, U.S. Representative Edward Rees of Kansas proposed a bill that would change Armistice Day to Veterans Day. In 1954, Congress passed the bill that President Eisenhower signed proclaiming November 11 as Veterans Day. Raymond Weeks received the Presidential Citizens Medal from President Reagan in November 1982. Weeks' local parade and ceremonies are now an annual event celebrated nationwide.
On Memorial Day 1958, two more unidentified American war dead were brought from overseas and interred in the plaza beside the unknown soldier of World War I. One was killed in World War II, the other in the Korean War. In 1984, an unknown serviceman from the Vietnam War was placed alongside the others. The remains from Vietnam were exhumed May 14, 1998 , identified as Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie, and removed for burial. To honor these men, symbolic of all Americans who gave their lives in all wars, an Army honor guard, the 3rd U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard), keeps day and night vigil.
A law passed in 1968 changed the national commemoration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. It soon became apparent, however, that November 11 was a date of historic significance to many Americans. Therefore, in 1978 Congress returned the observance to its traditional date.
Today, Birmingham still marks the oldest and largest Veteran's Day observance and parade in the United States.
FIRST - Classification Variable: Item or Event
Date of FIRST: 11/11/1947
More Information - Web URL: [Web Link]
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