The Wall, the War, and the Meaning of Veterans Day

 “Just Thinking"

I read a short “this day in history” piece yesterday that got me thinking about an impactful time in my life that I didn’t fully understand at the time, and how it looks so different with a few decades of perspective. It struck me even more because on Tuesday the 11th we observed Veterans Day, a reminder of all of the brave men and women that have served our country so bravely.

On November 13, 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C. Thousands of veterans marched to the site that day, gathering before the now-iconic V-shaped black granite wall. Etched into the polished stone are the names of 57,939 Americans who lost their lives in the Vietnam War, the names are not listed by rank or status, but in the order in which they fell. It’s a simple design, yet one of the most powerful memorials our country has ever created.

Growing up in San Francisco during the Vietnam era, I remember being surrounded by mixed messages about the war in Southeast Asia. At that time, I was young and didn’t grasp the politics behind it all, my memories were fragments: quick flashes of soldiers on the nightly news and the crowds of long-haired kids marching through the streets of the Haight -Ashbury; protesting at SF State and UC Berkeley. News of young men burning their draft cards preparing to flee to Canada and young women burning the bras (nothing to do with Vietnam, but it made an impression on my young mind) it was a strange and confusing time.

Now, all these years later, I can look back on that era with an understanding of what it truly meant. So many young Americans with their families standing behind them, sacrificed more than I can ever comprehend. When their country called, they answered, regardless of the politics, the protests, or the public opinion.

Yet when these young men and women returned home, they were not met with the respect or gratitude that they deserved. And the Gold Star families, who lost so much, often received far less acknowledgment than they had earned.

This is why the Vietnam Veterans Memorial matters so much. It stands as a long-overdue tribute to our fallen heroes, a place where their names, their service, and their sacrifice are honored with the dignity that they deserved and should have received from the start.

Somebody asked me the other day why we celebrate Veterans Day on a Tuesday, schools, banks and the Post Office are closed for one day in the middle of the week. I didn’t know, so I looked it up and was surprised to learn that it wasn’t celebrated on a Tuesday, but rather on November 11th. As it turns out at 11:00 on the 11th of November 1918 the Allied Nations and Germany signed an armistice (a temporary cease fire) which would eventually lead to the end of World War 1. In 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11th as Armistice Day, a day dedicated to peace and to honoring the veterans of World War I. 

Armistice Day stood until 1954, after pressure from veterans’ groups across the country, Congress passed, and President Eisenhower signed a bill officially changing the name from Armistice Day to Veterans Day. The purpose shifted from celebrating the end of WWI to honoring all American veterans.

Unlike Memorial Day, which floats on a Monday, Veterans Day keeps its original date because the timing itself is part of the meaning. The 11/11 symbolism is tied directly to the end of WWI.

Have a great Weekend.

Let me know what you think.

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