OPINION: Days that grow and vanish

But November is also home to the vanished national holiday of my childhood, Armistice Day, which had a Georgia piece to it. I have indelible memories of grade-school assemblies in which we children were made seriously aware that the blessings of the American way of life we enjoyed – complete with the Lone Ranger, marshmallow fluff, farmers’ markets, and hot dogs on Saturday nights – were ours to enjoy only because people had given their lives to protect them. We learned that we would always know when Armistice Day was, because it was the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year, and the Armistice ending World War I was signed at 11:00 a.m. on that day. And at the end of each year’s assembly, we heard a recitation of the 1915 poem “In Flanders Field” (“In Flanders Field the poppies blow / between the crosses, row on row . . . “) and had red paper poppies pinned to our shirts by American Legion volunteers.

And then, when I was 11, Armistice Day vanished. An Emporia, Kansas shoe-store owner named Al King had decided in 1953 that November 11th should be a national holiday to honor ALL veterans. Mr. King had been too young to serve in World War I and too old to serve in World War II, and perhaps for that reason was a fervent supporter of all who had served in our armed forces. His idea for an “all veterans’ day” spread almost literally like wildfire, and was signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on May 26, 1954.

I like Al King’s idea, and I’m glad it became a reality. My dad flew during World War II, my Uncle Paul died while serving in the army; my older son was a marine, and his dad was in the navy. Through these men I gained a deep appreciation of what it means to serve, during war or peace, in or out of combat.

But I also like going back and recovering the many layers of our Veterans Day holiday, one of which involves a University of Georgia faculty member named Moina Michael, who took a leave of absence from the University in 1918 to volunteer for war service with the YMCA. While working at the Overseas War Secretaries’ headquarters, she had the idea for the Flanders Field Memorial Poppy, and together with the American Legion Auxiliary, she worked to create a program whereby disabled veterans could make paper poppies, the American Legion could sell them each year, and the funds would go to help all veterans, while the poppies helped us all remember that freedom isn’t free – in fact, it’s very expensive. And priceless. And a gift to us from all who serve.

Susan Harper is retired, lives in Commerce and volunteers with the Commerce Public Library and the Jackson County Literacy Program.