Exploring the History of Veterans Day and How It Can Inspire Your Genealogy Journey

Today is November 11, and it’s Veterans Day. Since my husband is off work for this federal holiday, we decided to take some time to write while enjoying brown sugar pumpkin spice coffee at our local coffee shop. I want to share with you what I learned about Veterans Day, including its history, how it is different than Memorial Day, and how reflecting on our veterans’ experiences may inspire your genealogy research process.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Day began as an acknowledgment of the day that World War I ended – November 11, 1918. The very next year, that day was commemorated in the United States, but it was formalized in 1926 when our Congress passed a resolution that suggested that November 11 “should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations”. Congress also requested that President Calvin Coolidge “issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.”

Already a well-observed tradition, November 11 became a federal holiday in 1938, officially named Armistice Day. In a proclamation affirming an earlier 1954 act approved by Congress that changed the name and scope of the celebration, President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared, “On that [Veterans] day let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain.” For some reason, during most of the 1970’s, Veterans Day was celebrated on various October dates; November 11 as the official date of celebration was restored in 1978.

How is Veterans Day different than Memorial Day? In a 2021 message from the Army Combat Readiness Center, Command Sergeant Major William L. Gardner, II, and Brigadier General Andrew C. Holmes wrote, “Veterans Day allows us to give thanks to veterans past and present, men and women from all walks of life and all ethnicities, who stood up and said, ‘Send me.’ We recognize your sacrifices, your sense of duty and your love for this country.” Whereas Veterans Day focuses on all who have served, living and deceased (but mostly the living), Memorial Day was set aside specifically to honor only those who died while serving in the Armed Forces.

Why should Veterans Day matter to you as a family historian or genealogist? Surely, you have a veteran somewhere in your family tree. Regardless of the reason for their enlistment or drafting, whether they were in combat or served in administration, whether they were deployed or staying ready for the possibility, discharged honorably or not, your family’s veterans were trained to fight for victory, and they were expected to prepare themselves for witnessing, if not experiencing, mental, emotional, and physical suffering, and, potentially, loss of life under atrocious circumstances. Yet, how prepared can any human be to weather the realities of military training conflict without some sort of impact to their identities, values, worldviews, relationships?

I attended a professional development session sponsored by the VA that described the U.S. Armed Forces as a community with its own culture. This means that your veteran relative may think, act, communicate, and feel differently than you, not just because of individual or familial differences, but also because of their cultural experience in the military. As researchers, we get excited about what DNA can tell us about those origins and who we are today. Many of us learn about the cultures associated with those ancestral origins and try to understand how, if at all, to incorporate them into our lifestyles and identities today. I suggest that we pay similar attention to the culture of the military and how our veterans have practiced or been impacted by military cultural values and experiences. We should consider how we understand and respond to our veterans in light of those factors. We also should know that these considerations may extend beyond common observations about matters like their punctuality, standards of dress, or sense of order and organization.

I know a female veteran who entered the armed forces as soon as she graduated high school. She had a rewarding training experience and worked in a job that she truly valued. Soon, she was stationed abroad, where she was on her own, in a sense. She lived in the barracks with her buddies, but she had a degree of independence and freedom that she had not had before. For example, she could party and drink alcohol without much restriction now, and she did. Most of the people in her unit were older than her, and she began hanging out with them. In retrospect, she realizes that she was naïve and inexperienced, which made her vulnerable. Now, she wishes that she had other options about when, where, and with whom she would serve; she wishes that she would have made different choices about her life then, mostly because she believes she might have avoided a sexually assault perpetrated by a senior officer. She blames herself and wonders why no one administered justice to the offender until he assaulted someone else, this time, someone of a different race than her own. She felt that her experience was ignored and devalued because of racial bias, which amplified the effects of the sexual trauma. This veteran never experienced combat and was honorably discharged after about four years of service.

Fast forward to today, this female veteran is divorced, and she is the primary custodian of her minor children. She loves them but senses a disconnection that stems from her tendency to withdraw both physical and emotionally. She tries her best to protect and nurture her children but realizes that the tenderness that she wishes she was shown by her negligent parents is missing. On a whim, she recently relocated her family cross-country to “get some peace” and distance from family members who were overwhelming to her at the time, including a brother who she considers a strong ally. Now, she laments that decision because she misses them and feels lonely in her new environment. She has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder. She often entertains suicidal thoughts but, thankfully, has no action plan; she uses marijuana to quiet her social anxiety and alcohol to drown everything else. She is studying to earn a bachelor degree in business administration. Meanwhile, she is underemployed because she dreads the job search process and expects to bomb the interview. She is generally distrustful of people, and she is easily triggered when she feels disrespected. One day when she was in a store, someone skipped ahead of her in line, and she immediately “snapped” and began cursing at and threatening them. The bewildered customers left initially but, by the time she was done shopping, still were lingering outside with some intimidating looking friends. In that moment, she was still pumped with adrenaline and ready to fight anyone who might have approached her; in hindsight, however, she realized that she had put herself and others in danger with her impulsive outbursts.

Maybe some elements of this story remind you of a veteran you know. If this sounds foreign to you, just know that somebody out there – a person you see over there or maybe an ancestor who is long gone – can relate to this story. In terms of your genealogy research, you might consider how migration patterns reflect your veteran subject’s military assignments. Maybe some of the traditions your family holds could be related to beliefs and values instilled in your veteran by their military training. Perhaps, your veteran subject’s personality, behavior, or willingness to share many details about their personal life are an outgrowth of their military experience. Medical and psychiatric diagnoses may be attributed to their service and related traumas. You should be respectful with anyone you interview in your genealogy research, but maybe you can make an even greater effort to be patient, considerate, and open when engaging with veterans. As always, remain curious and refrain from jumping to any conclusions. Ask questions, or maybe just observe and listen. Extend kindness and compassion and gratitude toward him or her, realizing that their military service and their cultural experiences may be informing your interactions or, in the case of your genealogy research, your strategies, findings, and understanding.

Today is Veterans Day, and we should take time to honor and appreciate all who have served to protect and defend our nation, just like we’ve done for nearly 100 years. If you are a veteran, thank you. Thank you for being courageous enough to face even the possibility of danger and trauma to protect and defend the life that I lead today and the lives I’m responsible for protecting. I thank the veterans in my family, including Uncle Keith, Aunt Pro, Aunt Marie, Uncle Daryl, Uncle Ambrose, Uncle Pete and Cousins Tracy, Carey, Terry, Terry, Clarence, Jason, Tony, Charlie, Mike, Howard, and all those who love and support them, like Glenda Faye whose son, Anthony Maddox, we honor today and on Memorial Day, too. With love, Tameka