Traveling Back: For the first time, veterans from two wars joined in remembrance
It was called “the war to end all wars.” When the guns of war fell silent on the fields of France and the world breathed a sigh of relief, it was felt that a day of remembrance was important.
Armistice Day was set aside in 1919 (to be commemorated every year on Nov. 11) to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany. The armistice was signed at Compiègne, France, at 5:45 a.m., for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I. This took effect at 11 o'clock in the morning — the "11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" of 1918.
A formal peace agreement was only reached when the Treaty of Versailles was signed the following year.
Armistice Day was a special day to recall when the hell of war walked the earth and the brave men that looked into the depths of that hell and returned home. It was also a day to memorialize those who left for war and never came back.
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In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower officially changed the name of the holiday from Armistice Day to Veterans Day. In 1968, the Uniform Holidays Bill was passed by Congress, which moved the celebration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October.
In 1975, President Gerald Ford returned Veterans Day to Nov. 11 due to the important historical significance of the date.
On Veterans Day 1975 in Door County, a change was made. Veterans Day would be celebrated as usual by World War I veterans on Nov. 11, but on this day — and for the ﬁrst time in the county’s history — the doughboys of 1918 would be joined by the G.I. Joes of the '40s.
For years prior, the veterans of the “Great War” had been holding patriotic services at each of the county’s mainland schools. Timed for the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, these services were both impressive and appropriate.
Co-Chairmen Emil Hoslett and Donald Reynolds told the Advocate, “We started our Armistice Day ceremonies at Sturgeon Bay Junior High School, so it is ﬁtting we go there again this year.”
They asked members to wear either their World War I Barracks 3158 caps, American Legion caps, 40 & 8 caps or similar headgear. (The idea for the head gear was envisioned as a new and different level of elite membership and camaraderie for leaders of the American Legion.)
The box car of the French railways, so familiar to American ground troops of World War I, was chosen as the symbolic heart of the new organization. The French railroad theme was applied to officer titles and organizational functions.
The men would march in a body directly into the gym without having to climb stairs. The program, set to begin promptly at 10:45 a.m., included music by the school band, a color guard and an invocation by George Resch,
On this first occasion of the combination of veterans of both World Wars, speeches were given by students Mary Ann Tamayo and Steve Apacosta and the introduction of the veterans was provided by Don Reynolds (who would also present a flag that had flown over the nation’s capital to the school). The guest speaker for the event was Col. Joseph Peot.
Just before the World War I veterans marched out in a body, "Taps" was played and the AMVETS (World War II) fired a salute outside the school.
Alan Macmillin, a commander of World War I Veterans Barracks 3158, asked his fellow legionnaires to attend “if at all possible” to make a good showing.
On this special day, the men of two different wars stood shoulder to shoulder and saluted the flag of a country they loved and had fought for. Tears were shed for those who had made the ultimate sacrifice and for those who left behind a youthful innocence that could never be reclaimed.
From the pages of the Door County Advocate of years gone by.
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