Where Veterans Day Took Root
Veterans Day belongs to the entire country, but part of its story began in Birmingham. Nearly eight decades later, the city still marks November 11 with a parade that grew from one Alabama veteran’s idea.
Before there was Veterans Day, there was Armistice Day, tied to the end of World War I fighting on November 11, 1918. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs traces the holiday’s evolution from that original observance to the broader day Americans know now.
Birmingham has a particularly important place in that history.
The Idea Started Here
World War II veteran Raymond Weeks returned home believing November 11 should honor veterans of every war, not only those connected to World War I. According to the National Veterans Day Foundation, Weeks traveled to Washington in 1946 to promote the idea, then helped organize Birmingham’s first Veterans Day activities in 1947.
Those events included a parade and banquet, seven years before President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation establishing Veterans Day nationally in 1954.
Weeks kept the Birmingham tradition going for decades. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan awarded him the Presidential Citizens Medal and recognized his role as the driving force behind the holiday.
That makes Birmingham’s annual parade something more than another November procession.
Seventy-Nine Years and Still Moving
The 79th National Veterans Day Parade begins at 1 p.m. November 11 and continues through approximately 4:30 p.m. along downtown Birmingham streets.
The evening before, the city will host the National Veterans Award Dinner at Boutwell Auditorium. The November 10 event begins with a 5 p.m. reception followed by dinner at 6 p.m., continuing another Birmingham tradition connected to the national observance.
The remarkable part is the continuity.
The streets have changed. Generations of veterans have come home from different conflicts. The country eventually adopted the holiday Weeks imagined. Yet every November 11, Birmingham still returns to the same basic idea first celebrated there in 1947: honor the people who served.
For more Alabama organizations supporting veterans and communities throughout the year, explore the Guide to Alabama community organizations directory at https://www.guidetoalabama.com/community-organizations.