Neighbor News
Local veterans pay tribute to the Father of Veterans Day
Raymond Weeks honored in annual ceremony at Linn Park for Veterans Day
A group of about 100 gathered around a granite memorial at the corner of Linn Park across from Boutwell Auditorium Sunday afternoon, November 11, to kick off Veterans Day activities in the city. The monument is dedicated to Raymond Weeks, the Birmingham citizen, and World War II Navy veteran, who lobbied to create Veterans Day in the 1940s.
In 1954, President Eisenhower signed legislation to officially rename Armistice Day to honor all veterans, but the process began almost a decade earlier when Weeks led a group of advocates to meet with General Eisenhower in 1946 with a proposal to rename the holiday.
“Raymond Weeks was not the only person in America who had this idea,” says Dr. David Dyson, author of Patriotism in Action. “In 1945, there were many people who believed Armistice Day needed to be expanded and that we should have a national celebration to commemorate veterans of all wars.”
Weeks, unlike many others, took action. He created the National Veterans Day organization and began hosting Veterans Day parades each year, beginning in 1947. He continued to lead the parade each year until his death in 1985.
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Aside from creating the nation's oldest Veterans Day celebration, Weeks served in the Alabama House of Representatives for three terms. He was a long-term member of the Birmingham Civitan Club and volunteered with other organizations and charities locally. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan honored Weeks with the Presidential Citizens Medal—the second highest civilian honor—and attributed the creation of Veterans Day to his efforts.
Dubbed the "Father of Veterans Day" by Elizabeth Dole at the medal ceremony, Weeks accepted the honor on behalf of all Alabamians.
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The short ceremony was organized by Col. Bob Barefield and guest speakers were Dr. Dyson of Patriotism in Action and Mark Ryan, the current president of National Veterans Day in Birmingham. Several of Raymond Weeks' family members were in attendance as various organizations laid wreaths around the monument.
The National Veterans Day organization leads the Veterans Day parade in Birmingham each year and also conducts the World Peace Luncheon annually. Weeks envisioned the holiday as a celebration of peace.
