Veterans Day, celebrated every November 11th, honors and pays tribute to the men and women who have served the United States. As of 2021, the United States has had over 16 million military veterans. The holiday was founded in November 1919 by President Wilson as "Armistice Day." It was a way to celebrate the armistice, the "temporary cessation of hostilities between Allied nations and Germany," that began the end of World War I.
In 1926, Congress made Armistice Day an annual observance, and it became a national holiday in 1938. That same year, Armistice was replaced with Veterans to "honor American veterans of all wars." In President Dwight D. Eisenhower's proclamation, he stated that "in order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans' organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to join hands in the common purpose."
FDLP Library Guide: America at War
The Federal Depository Library Program offers library guides that include resources and guidance for researchers. Depository libraries, administered by the U.S. Government Publishing Office, are designated to manage and preserve government information and documents to ensure "American public has access to Government information." The "America at War" guide offers access to:
- Military History & Museums
- Early Conflicts
- Civil War
- World Wars
- Southeast Asia Conflicts
- Middle East Wars
These resources, along with providing resources and information on the details of American wars, give insight to what U.S. veterans saw and endured.
Oklahoma State University's Veterans Day Celebrations
Oklahoma State has numerous events on campus to celebrate Veterans Day. Every year, OSU has an annual flag planting ceremony where volunteers set up more than 7,000 American flags, and place dog tags on them, representing service members who have died in the Global War on Terrorism since 2001. The names are taken from the Department of Defense.
- On November 8th, the OSU Office of Student Veteran Success is offering a free movie at 5pm in the Student Union Theatre. Everything will be free of charge for those who attend!
- On November 10th, the annual Veteran Appreciation Dinner will be taking place at 5:30pm. All veteran and military-affiliated students are invited.
- The Edmon Low Library will be hosting a Veterans Day Ceremony on November 11th at 10AM. It will be held at the Peggy V. Helmerich Browsing Room.
- Finally, volunteers will be needed to pick up the 7,000 American flags in front of Library Lawn on November 13th.
To sign up for any of these events, patrons can go on the Oklahoma State CampusLink site or go to the Veteran Student Affairs office.
_________________________________________________________
Eager to know more? Start here.
Government Information Online is produced by the staff at the Oklahoma State University Libraries Government Documents Department, a regional depository for U.S. Government and Oklahoma state government documents. We are located on the 5th floor of the Edmon Low Library. Our department website can be reached at www.info.library.okstate.edu/government-documents. For more information or for research assistance, contact us at 405.744.6546. or email suzanne.reinman@okstate.edu.
Comments