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Veterans Day, 1954 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION 3071 Whereas it has long been our customs to commemorate November 11, the anniversary of the ending of World War I, by paying tribute to the heroes of that tragic struggle and by rededicating ourselves to the cause of peace; and Whereas in the intervening years the United States has been involved in two other great military conflicts, which have added millions of veterans living and dead to the honor rolls of this Nation; and Whereas the Congress passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926 (44 Stat. 1982), calling for the observance of November 11 with appropriate ceremonies, and later provided in an act approved May 13, 1938 (52 Stat. 351) , that the eleventh of November should be a legal holiday and should be known as Armistice Day; and Whereas, in order to expand the significance of that commemoration and in order that a grateful Nation might pay appropriate homage to the veterans of all its wars who have contributed so much to the preservation of this Nation, the Congress, by an act approved June 1, 1954 (68 Stat. 168), changed the name of the holiday to Veterans Day: Now, Therefore, I, Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States of America , do hereby call upon all of our citizens to observe Thursday, November 11, 1954 , as Veterans Day. On that day let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain. I also direct the appropriate officials of the Government to arrange for the display of the flag of the United States on all public buildings on Veterans Day. In order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans' organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to wish to join hands in the common purpose. Toward this end, I am designating the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs as Chairman of a Veterans Day National Committee, which shall include such other persons as the Chairman may select, and which will coordinate at the national level necessary planning for the observance. I am also requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch of the Government to assist the National Committee in every way possible. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and cause the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington this eighth day of October in the Year of our Lord nineteen hundred and fifty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and seventy-ninth. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER Click here to go to the Veterans Day home page.

Do you know who wrote this and in what year it was written? I have today signed a proclamation calling upon all of our citizens to observe . November 11, . as Veterans Day. It is my earnest hope that all veterans, their organizations, and the entire citizenry will join hands to insure proper and widespread observance of this day. With the thought that it will be most helpful to coordinate the planning, I am suggesting the formation of a Veterans Day National Committee. In view of your great personal interest as well as your official responsibilities, I have designated you to serve as Chairman.... I have every confidence that our Nation will respond wholeheartedly in the appropriate observance of Veterans Day. President Eisenhower’s letter to Harvey V. Higley, Administrator of Veterans' Affairs, designating him Chairman, Veterans Day National Committee THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE October 8, 1954 Dear Mr. Higley: I have today signed a proclamation calling upon all of our citizens to observe Thursday, November 11, 1954 as Veterans Day. It is my earnest hope that all veterans, their organizations, and the entire citizenry will join hands to insure proper and widespread observance of this day. With the thought that it will be most helpful to coordinate the planning, I am suggesting the formation of a Veterans Day National Committee. In view of your great personal interest as well as your official responsibilities, I have designated you to serve as Chairman. You may include in the Committee membership such other persons as you desire to select and I am requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch to assist the Committee in its work in every way possible. I have every confidence that our Nation will respond wholeheartedly in the appropriate observance of Veterans Day, 1954. Sincerely, DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER Click here to go to the Veterans Day home page.

NIAGARA FALLS - While Senior Airman Daniel K. Scott was flying home from the Middle East on Wednesday, his mother, Abby, of Castile in Wyoming County, was up at 4 a.m. baking chocolate chip cookies. The cookies were in the car when she and her husband, Paul, arrived at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station before noon to welcome their son. Scott's girlfriend, Kristin Nesbitt, 29, of Buffalo, was also there to greet him. "It feels good to be home," said Scott, 26, after piling off a C-130 Hercules transport plane and hugging his parents and girlfriend. Scott, a crew chief with the 914th Airlift Wing, was one of 50 Air Force reservists who returned to the base from the Middle East, ending the largest and longest deployment in the unit's history. Barbara Freitas, a Canadian who lives in St. Catharines, Ont., was waiting for her husband, Master Sgt. Thomas Freitas, an American who maintains the avionics equipment on the C-130 Hercules aircraft, the workhorse of the 914th. The airman was coming home after a four-month tour of duty, and his wife waited in a hangar with her daughter, Alexandra, 11, as the torrential remains of a lightning storm poured down outside. "We're pretty anxious," she said. "I didn't get much sleep last night." Her anxiety mounted when her husband wasn't on the C-130 that landed at about 1 p.m. She reached for her cell phone and was trying to call her husband when an air base support person told her he would be on a plane coming in later. Major Charles R. Anderson, 43, of Albany, was on the C-130. He was the pilot. His wife, Karen, and their three children, Zachary, 12, Hannah, 9, and Aidan, 6, rushed into his arms when he stepped onto the tarmac. Staff Sgt. Maurice Shivers, 33, of Grand Island, a loadmaster with the 914th, was welcomed home by his wife, Christina, and their children, Alexia, 7, Alicia, 2, and Alex, 1, and his parents, Maurice Sr. and Georgia. "It's such a relief to be back with my family," he said. Master Sgt. Douglas Kalota, 33, of North Tonawanda, got a surprise welcome from his mother, Dorothy, who drove up from Albany in a blinding rainstorm. Kalota's wife, Shannon; father, Bob; several other relatives; and Kalota's brother, Vince, a technical sergeant with the 107th Air Refueling Wing who did a tour of duty in 2003, were also there to greet him. "The airplanes are coming home, but the Wing is still committed to supporting the country overseas," said Col. James B. Roberts, commander of the air base and the 914th Airlift Wing. The 914th, which shares the air base with the 107th, was the first unit to be deployed after the start of the Iraq War in 2003. Up to 500 airmen and women were deployed on a rotation basis during the height of the Iraq War, said Neil E. Nolf, the public affairs officer. The rotating tours of duty have ranged from six weeks to six months for the hundreds of civilian airmen and women who train at the Niagara air base.

http://www.buffalonews.com/graphics/2006/10/05/1005mitchell.jpg A former Niagara Falls, Ont., resident who was Killed Tuesday in Afghanistan is the 40th Canadian soldier to die there since 2002. Cpl. Robert Mitchell, 32, married with three young children, moved to Owen Sound, Ont., after being raised in Niagara Falls but returned there to live for a short time before enlisting in the Canadian Armed Forces. His father-in-law, Gary Hass of Fort Erie, said Mitchell attended Ontario's Niagara College for a while, but his ambition was to become a soldier. "He was dedicated to his family and dedicated to his military career," Hass told the Niagara Falls, Ont., Review. Hass said the family would have no comment for the media at this time. "We can only take things one day at a time," he said. Mitchell's wife, Leanne, and the couple's three children, ages 5, 3, and 2, recently moved into a new house near the Petawawa, Ont., Canadian Forces Base, about 175 miles northeast of Toronto. Mitchell didn't serve with the Niagara Peninsula's Lincoln and Welland Regiment - which has five soldiers in Afghanistan - but the loss was felt throughout the Niagara area. "His death affects us all," said Sgt. Douglas Pirko of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment. Mitchell and Sgt. Craig Gillam, both members of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, based in Petawawa, were killed and several soldiers wounded in an enemy attack about 18 miles outside Kandahar City. The Canadian soldiers, members of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, were helping clear a right of way of mines and improvised explosive devices to make way for a road construction project when they came under attack from mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, the Canadian National Defence Department said in a news release. None of the wounded Canadians suffered life-threatening injuries. They are being treated at the Canadian-led multinational hospital at Kandahar Airfield. Canada has about 2,200 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan. Of the total number of Canadian deaths, 31 soldiers have been killed this year. Four of the deaths were accidental, and six were by friendly fire, including rocket fire from U.S. forces. Please stop by these Fellow Lost Cherry Candian Veterans to pay your Respects. Maverick

Canadian
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Canadian Draezin

Canadian

Lance Corporal Howard March Junior of Buffalo, New York.