Birmingham's Veterans Day Parade Is The Oldest In The Country

BIRMINGHAM, AL - On Saturday, November 11, the country will celebrate Veterans Day, a national holiday first made official by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1954. Birmingham's Veteran's Day parade held each year on the holiday has been the longest running Veterans Day parade in the country since. This Saturday starting at 1:30 p.m., downtown Birmingham will be the site of the city's 70th annual Veterans Day parade. The parade route begins on 18th Street and 9th Avenue North, and ends at 19th Street and 10th Avenue North.

So, how did Birmingham become the pioneer for the holiday? World War II and Birmingham resident Raymond Weeks had an idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans. In 1947 he led a delegation to Washington, D.C., to urge then-Army Chief of Staff General Eisenhower to create a national holiday that honored all veterans. In 1954, President Eisenhower signed legislation establishing November 11th as Veterans Day. President Reagan honored Weeks as the driving force for the national holiday with the Presidential Citizenship Medal in 1982 at the White House. Weeks led the first National Veterans Day Parade in 1947 in Alabama, and he continued the tradition until his passing in 1985.

Veterans Day celebrations will begin Friday, with a memorial service to Weeks. It will take place at the northwest corner of Linn Park between Boutwell Auditorium and City Hall. After that, the Sheraton Downtown will host a reception for all distinguished Vvsitors and honored guests attending the National Awards Dinner at 5:30 p.m.

On Saturday, a memorial service recognizing and honoring those Veterans who have passed away this past year will take place at the Cathedral Church of the Advent at 8:30 a.m. It is conducted by The Forty and Eight, an independent organization of male and female U. S. veterans, founded in 1920 by American veterans returning from France after WWI.

Photo of Birmingham Veterans Day Parade courtesy of National Veterans Day Organization