If you see me in Utica today and want to thank me for my service, I’ll gladly take it. If you’re planning to save it for Memorial Day, I’d rather you go ahead and tell me now. I’m still here, and I’m hoping to stay that way for a good while.
I say that with a smile and with respect for the families who observe Memorial Day with an empty chair at the table. Memorial Day, on the last Monday in May, honors those who died while serving our country. Veterans Day, on November 11, honors everyone who served honorably, in wartime or in peace. It’s a chance to thank the veterans who are still here to hear it.
Veterans Day history
The fighting in World War I stopped under an armistice at 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918. President Woodrow Wilson marked the first Armistice Day in 1919, and Congress made it a federal holiday in 1938. The day commemorated the end of the fighting and was dedicated to peace.
After World War II, a Navy veteran named Raymond Weeks wanted the day to honor everyone who had served. He took his idea to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1946 and organized a parade in Birmingham, Alabama, the next year. Kansas Congressman Edward Rees introduced the bill, and on June 1, 1954, Eisenhower, by then president, signed it into law.
Congress later moved Veterans Day to a Monday to give federal workers a three-day weekend. The first October observance was in 1971, but many states kept November 11. Veterans organizations and state lawmakers backed a return to the original date. President Gerald Ford signed that change in 1975, and it took effect in 1978. People remembered what happened at that hour on that date. They wanted to keep it.
Some veterans waited years to hear thank you
Today, I hear “thank you for your service” at ballgames, at community events and in ordinary conversation. I appreciate it. I also think about the veterans who came home from Vietnam to a country so divided over the war that many felt ignored or shunned. When the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in 1982, the parade and gatherings in Washington gave many of them the public welcome they had waited years to receive.
People had every right to question the war and the leaders who sent Americans to fight it. The people who served still had to come home, find work, reconnect with their families and live with what they’d experienced. When I hear someone thank a Vietnam veteran today, I’m glad they said it. I wish more people had said it when those veterans first came home.
I’m glad we’ve learned to say thank you. I pay just as much attention to what happens after the ceremony.
When politicians ask us to stand beside them
One thing that irritates me as a veteran is watching politicians use us as campaign props. They ask us to stand beside them for the picture. Then they go back to Washington, where their votes and budget decisions tell us what that promise is worth.
In July 2022, a Senate vote to advance the PACT Act fell five votes short of the 60 it needed. The bill expanded care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances. It became law that August. When veterans are already waiting for help, what are you asking them to wait for now?
In February 2025, during the Trump administration’s DOGE push to shrink the federal workforce, the VA announced that it had dismissed more than 1,000 employees in one round and more than 1,400 in another. The VA said it exempted jobs it considered critical to its mission and would put the savings back into care and services. In July, the department said it expected to end the fiscal year with nearly 30,000 fewer employees and avoid a large-scale layoff.
If the VA says a smaller staff can serve veterans better, show us how long it takes to get an appointment. Show us how long a veteran waits for a disability claim to be decided. And when somebody calls because they can’t get an answer, tell us whether they can reach a person who can help. Those are the results I want to hear about when the speeches are over.
Keep the promises
I’m proud to be a veteran. When I enlisted, I knew what I was signing up for. I knew the country could ask a great deal of me, and I was willing to serve. The country made commitments, too. Veterans who need care because of their service should be able to get it, and veterans who earned benefits should be able to count on them.
If you see me in Utica today, I’ll be glad to hear your thanks. And when the people who gave the speeches go back to work, I expect them to keep the promises they made to us. We kept ours.
Sources · VA on the two holidays · VA holiday history · Raymond Weeks and Edward Rees · Congressional Record · Vietnam veterans’ homecoming · Senate PACT Act vote · First VA dismissals · Second VA dismissals · VA staffing projection
Tell us about a veteran you know
Who comes to mind when you think about Veterans Day? Tell us about them in the comments. Share a memory, tell us what their service meant to your family, or tell us how they’ve made a difference here at home. If you served, we’d like to hear your story, too.
Have a photo you’d like us to see? Send it to news@voicemv.com with the names of the people pictured, where and when it was taken if you know, and permission for us to publish it.
Mohawk Valley Voice is a new voice for this community. Use it. The stories of the people who served belong in the pages of their hometown news, and we’d like your help telling them.