HISTORY AND MEANING OF
VETERANS DAY By Kiersten Gunsberg
Edging in on the eastern border of Kansas, Emporia is a hub for all things midwest - there’s a zoo that houses raccoons and prairie dogs, cinnamon wafts over the weekend farmers market and a hornet named Corky stands as the mascot of the college town’s own Emporia State University.
E
mporia is also home to Alvin J. King, the mid-century shoe salesman who sparked the founding of Veterans Day. But first, to understand the meaningfulness of this national day of remembrance, go back to a cold-tothe-bone November 11th, 1918. On this morning, the combat of World War I ceased with a peace treaty signed by the Allies and Germany in a damp, riverside city in the north of France.
22 – GATHER Veterans
A year later, President Woodrow Wilson’s administration named November 11th Armistice Day, and across the globe, countries remembered together. With parades and an overall buzzing of victory rising up through the loss, citizens of the world hoped it would be a day to commemorate the finale of what was to be “the war to end all wars” and the beginning of an international effort towards peace.
