A Brief History of Today
- Alex
(With all due apologies to Stephen Hawking, of course.)
You all know it's Veterans Day today, right? Right? Veterans Day is the National Holiday set aside for honoring all those who have served in our military,
which under present circumstances should be a pretty big deal. The official government website for Veterans Day states that it's largely intended to thank living veterans for their service, to acknowledge that their contributions to our national security are appreciated, and to underscore the fact that all those who served - not only those who died - have sacrificed and done their duty.
Damn skippy. Don't get this confused with Memorial Day, either, as that's the holiday in May where we remember those who died in service to our country.
So if you know someone who's served in our Armed Forces, definitely take a moment to thank them for that today. They deserve it.
Now, did you also know that Veterans Day used to be called Armistice Day? wadE and I were talking about this after it came up at trivia a week or two ago.
So I did a little digging, and found out that what the holiday initially memorialized was the treaty that ended World War I. So you have to be in support of a
holiday where the history of it is a celebration of an end to war, and the way we celebrate it today is to thank those who served. It works for me.
Of course... if you grew up in Minnesota, you've probably heard the story enough times that you've got another association with the words "Armistice Day".
Your mental picture probably looks like this:
One of the worst blizzards in MN history - November 11, 1940. Aka, The Armistice Day Blizzard. I'd bet money that if you turn on the local weather forecast
tonight, that they'll mention it.
And since I'm talking about the history of the day, I once dated a girl in high school who's birthday is on Veterans Day. So happy birthday to her today.
I'm out.
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