Both of my grandfathers were veterans, in addition to one of my uncles and a great grandfather. All but my uncle passed away before I knew them — but that doesn’t mean Veterans Day isn’t important to me.
As a journalist, I cherish my freedoms. Countless soldiers fought and defended the first amendment and here I am, benefitting from their sacrifice. Without it, journalists couldn’t function as the fourth estate.
During my freshman year of college, I expected to have Nov. 11 off, because it’s Veterans Day. I was surprised to find that the University of Idaho didn’t take Veterans Day off. I figured Idaho, a red state, would be keen on taking a national holiday honoring veterans.
Veterans Day is a national holiday honoring the end of World War I, or “the war to end all wars.”
The war ended officially on June 28, 1919 with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in Versailles, France. In reality, fighting had stopped seven months earlier with an armistice between the Allied nations and Germany. The armistice went into effect Nov. 11, 1918.
Congress passed a resolution declaring Nov. 11 a national holiday to be commemorated with thanks, prayer and the perpetuation of peace through good will between nations. The holiday was originally called Armistice Day and called for observation in schools, churches and government offices.
In 1954, the name of the holiday was expanded to Veterans Day to honor Americans who fought in Vietnam and World War II.
According to the Idaho Secretary of State website, Veterans Day is specified a state holiday — one the government will take off. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says the celebration in honor of America’s veterans is to be observed Nov. 11, regardless of the day of the week.
Non-essential federal employees are given the day off with pay on Veterans Day.
UI is a federally-funded, state university and doesn’t observe this federal holiday.
Bruce Pitman told Veterans Service Coordinator Dan Button that many years ago, UI faculty and staff decided to take the Friday after Thanksgiving as a paid holiday instead of Veterans Day.
I understand why they made the decision — food comas are real and occur in high frequency around Thanksgiving, in addition to the growing popularity of Black Friday.
But as someone with many responsibilities on school days, I can’t attend the events UI holds throughout Veterans Day on campus.
I’m sure most of my classmates, professors, faculty and staff are in the same boat.
There’s always going to be people who don’t treat Veterans Day with the honor it deserves. I think UI is setting a poor example by not taking the day off. UI takes off Labor Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July and every other federal holiday, some of which aren’t honoring sacrifices made by veterans across the years.
A restructuring of priorities is in order.
Tess Fox can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @tesstakesphotos