Remembering the Father of Veterans Day
“Veterans Day honors all American veterans, but it is the life legacy of one man – Navy WWII veteran Raymond Weeks.”
Veterans Day: An Origin Story
Every American knows Veterans Day. It is woven into the fabric of our nation’s identity. It’s more than just a holiday. In a way, it is an American rite – a sacred space and practice in which all Americans, regardless of religion or politic, corporately honor those who have defended the American way of life by serving in our nation’s armed forces.
That reverence for military service is baked into our country’s DNA. Our founders acknowledged this Thomas Jefferson acknowledged that “the tree of liberty must be refreshed….with the blood of patriots and tyrants,” and that truth has remained an integral part of the American conscience ever since.
It may come as a surprise then that Veterans Day is a relatively recent holiday in our nation’s history. Though it is a day to honor all American veterans, it is fair to say that this holiday is the life legacy of one veteran in particular – Raymond Weeks, a Navy veteran of World War II.
Watering the Tree of Liberty
To understand Weeks’ efforts behind Veterans Day, one must first look back to World War I.
Then known as The Great War, WWI was unrivaled for its time in the desolation that it wrought and the macabre weapons it unleashed. The war began with men fighting on horseback and ended with mechanized tanks, airplanes, and chemical weapons. It reduced much of western Europe to charnel fields and piles of rubble where cities once stood. And it left a generation of children fatherless. The war was truly the end of civilization as people had come to know it.
When the fighting finally ceased at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, many thought, and prayed, that it would be known forevermore as The War to End All War.
So, when President Woodrow Wilson addressed the American public one year later, on that same day, he did so with an air of somber gratitude for those who served in the war, those who kept alive a hope for civilization and future peace by laying down their own lives. President Wilson called for all Americans to set aside November 11, Armistice Day, as a time to honor their countrymen who served in The Great War, both the living and the fallen.
That address set into motion the eventual adoption of Armistice Day as a national holiday in 1926 and then a federal holiday in 1938.
Of course, as Raymond Weeks and the rest of the world would soon discover, The Great War had not ended all war. It had just lain the foundation for more conflict and more blood. Such was the price for the survival of the free world.
The Father of Veterans Day
When America finally entered WWII as an official combatant, Raymond Weeks, a son of Birmingham, Alabama, answered the call to arms. Weeks enlisted in the Navy in 1942 and served until his discharge in 1945. His experience of the war awakened him to a need in American society – the need to honor all of America’s sons and daughters, living and dead, who served in the armed forces.
Weeks led a delegation in 1947 to petition then Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower to expand Armistice Day to do exactly that. After all, America already had a day dedicated to honoring all Americans who died in wars. Why not a day that included the living as well? Eisenhower agreed to Weeks’ proposal, and Weeks presided over America’s first ever National Veterans Day ceremony in Birmingham, AL.
For the next several years, Weeks spearheaded the effort to convince congress and the military to officially change Armistice Day to become National Veterans Day. His dream became reality in 1954 when the committee that he led successfully secured Kansas Rep. Edward Rees’ sponsorship of a bill to that effect.
Congress voted to approve the bill which then went before none other than President Dwight Eisenhower, who signed it into law.
Nearly 30 years later, President Ronald Reagan awarded Weeks with the Presidential Citizenship Medal in 1982 and dubbed him the Father of Veterans Day in a speech prepared by Elizabeth Dole.
Weeks continued to hold National Veterans Day events in Birmingham every year until his death in 1985. The citizens of Birmingham now honor him on Veterans Day with ceremonies held in his name in Linn Park where a memorial stands to his legacy.
Ever the servant leader, in life Weeks never stopped giving back to his country. After WWII, he served three terms as an Alabama state representative and gave his time, resources, and energy to various civic organizations and causes.
His legacy of active courage, continuous service, and championing his fellow countrymen exemplify the principles of Veterans Day. His story should stand as an inspiration to us all. May Raymon Weeks always be remembered.
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