Veterans Day has been a national holiday since 1954, when Congress designated it as a time to honor American veterans of all wars. It’s been observed longer than that, however, going back to 1938, when it was begun as Armistice Day to mark the end of the First World War on Nov. 11, 1918.
The group Veterans for Peace, and in particular its Wisconsin chapters, is seeking to restore that name, contending that the day was originally intended to commemorate the end of a war rather than those who engage in one.
“The original Armistice Day was a day to remember the awful horrors of World War I,” said Phil Anderson of Brule, a veteran with 20 years of service and a member of the Lake Superior Region Veterans for Peace.
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“Changing it to Veterans Day honored military service, which is a fine thing to do,” he continued. “But changing that back to a day in which we’re thinking about peace would be an improvement over the numerous patriotic holidays that kind of glorify war. We don’t mean to glorify war with these holidays, but the reality is we do.”
Anderson spoke with WPR’s Robin Washington on “Morning Edition” about the group’s effort and the origin of Veterans Day and other national holidays that originally celebrated peace.
The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Robin Washington: How long have you been pushing for the name change and what are the chances of getting it adopted?
Phil Anderson: We’ve been using this campaign for a number of years. It’s related to the fact that in many other countries, especially in British Commonwealth countries, the holiday is still celebrated as a remembrance day of World War I and as a day to work for peace.
The chances of getting the name restored here are probably not very good. One of the things that those of us in the peace movement have to put up with is the fact that we’re voices crying in the wilderness to a large degree.
RW: Have you had any interaction with other veterans groups about it? I noticed on the VFW website, it gives a history of Veterans Day that speaks about preserving peace.
PA: My understanding is the Veterans of Foreign Wars does have a mission statement to promote peace. We have not had any contact with them about this specific issue.
We would love to have a closer relationship with the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. We have in the past tried to reach out on issues that we thought we could have common ground, but without much success.
RW: Don’t names change over time, such as “colored” to “African-American”? There are also those that are preserved for historical purposes, like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
PA: Names do change over time. And in fact, other holidays have. Memorial Day was originally Decoration Day from the Civil War. It’s specifically to honor the fallen soldiers and the injured. Mother’s Day was also originally a day of peace and now has morphed into a day to remember mothers and a Hallmark holiday. It’s a way to sell cards and flowers, which is not a bad thing. We ought to be doing a lot more of that.
RW: Going back to the original Decoration Day, it mostly involved women putting flowers on the graves of the fallen soldiers.
PA: Yes, and my understanding is in a lot of places, they put flowers on both Confederate and Union graves. So that is a good activity in terms of remembering again the horrors of war.
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