Tompkins County
Veterans Day Committee
~ Representing all Veteran's Organizations in Tompkins County

What is the difference between Veterans Day and Memorial Day?

- Very basically, Veterans Day is for those who survived their service to return home and live with their experiences and memories of everything that happened.

- Memorial Day is those who made the ultimate sacrifice and were laid to rest.  Most are able to return home but not all.

Never forget that it is very difficult to be the one to come home while someone else did not. 

Veterans walk among us every day and deserve our at the very least our quite respect while a simple thank you every now is then is appreciated. 

In 1953, an Emporia, Kansas shoe store owner named Al King had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans, not just those who served in World War I. King had been actively involved with the American War Dads during World War II. He began a campaign to turn Armistice Day into "All" Veterans Day. The Emporia Chamber of Commerce took up the cause after determining that 90% of Emporia merchants as well as the Board of Education supported closing their doors on November 11, 1953, to honor veterans. With the help of then-U.S. Rep. Ed Rees, also from Emporia, a bill for the holiday was pushed through Congress. President Dwight Eisenhower signed it into law on May 26, 1954.^[3]

Congress amended this act on November 8, 1954, replacing "Armistice" with Veterans, and it has been known as Veterans Day since.^[4][5]

Although originally scheduled for celebration on November 11 of every year, starting in 1971 in accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Veterans Day was moved to the fourth Monday of October. In 1978 it was moved back to its original celebration on November 11 (with the exceptions described above).

TCVD Committee
PO Box 6604
Ithaca, NY  14851

VeteransDay@VeteransDayParadeTompkins.com