America’s veterans are being honored today nationwide. Veterans Day will be commemorated here in Fairbanks with an event at the Westmark downtown.
Today’s Veterans Day Recognition tribute at the Westmark Fairbanks Hotel and Conference Center is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. in the Gold Room.
That’s an appropriate time for the event, because it was on Nov. 11, in 1919, when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Armistice Day, to commemorate the end of World War I.
The armistice that temporarily halted hostilities was signed on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. The war actually ended on seven months later with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
The 11th hour was cited as the appropriate time to end what was then the bloodiest war ever, because many considered World War I as a marker for the 11th hour of Western civilization – near the end, if humankind couldn’t figure out a way to resolve conflicts through other means besides war.
In 1954, the U.S. Congress re-designated Armistice Day as National Veterans Day to honor all veterans, not just those of World War I.
The Veterans Day commemoration at the Westmark is the 22nd annual observance organized by Festival Fairbanks. It’ll include a talk by Fort Wainwright’s garrison commander, and the post’s Ninth Army Band will perform.
