[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 117, 108th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
EMPORIA, KANSAS--FOUNDING CITY OF VETERANS DAY
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Whereas in 1953, Alvin J. King of Emporia, Kansas, proposed that
Armistice Day be changed to Veterans Day to recognize and honor all
veterans from all wars and conflicts;

Whereas in 1953, Veterans Day was first organized and celebrated in
Emporia, Kansas;

Whereas although Alvin King was only 15 years old when the United States
went to war in 1917 and never served in the Armed Forces, he had a
deep respect for veterans;

Whereas Alvin King's stepson, John Cooper, whom he had raised, was
killed in action in Belgium during World War II while serving with
Rifle Company B, 137th Infantry Regiment;

Whereas after World War II, Alvin King developed friendships with the
surviving members of Rifle Company B, 137th Infantry Regiment;


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117 STAT. 2959


Whereas in the early 1950s, Alvin King suggested either creating a
special day to honor all veterans or adapting Armistice Day so that
it was dedicated to all veterans since, at that time, Armistice Day
honored the veterans of World War I;

Whereas by 1953, the community of Emporia, Kansas, had raised enough
money to send Alvin King and his wife, Gertrude, to Washington, D.C.
to garner support for an official veterans day;

Whereas Alvin King had a friend and supporter in Representative Ed Rees
of Emporia, Kansas, who was strongly in favor of King's idea and
said ``it would give the holiday a new meaning and more widespread
patriotic observance'';

Whereas on June 1, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was raised
in Kansas, signed into law the Act proclaiming November 11 as
Veterans Day (Public Law 380 of the 83rd Congress);

Whereas on October 8, 1954, President Eisenhower issued a presidential
proclamation concerning Veterans Day in 1954 in which he stated,
``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''; and

Whereas the first nationwide observance of Veterans Day was on November
11, 1954: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That Congress hereby--
(1) encourages Americans to demonstrate their support for
veterans on Veterans Day by treating that day as a special day
of remembrance;
(2) declares Emporia, Kansas, to be the founding city of
Veterans Day;
(3) recognizes Alvin J. King, of Emporia, Kansas, as the
founder of Veterans Day; and
(4) recognizes that Representative Ed Rees, of Emporia,
Kansas, was instrumental in the efforts to enact into law the
observance of Veterans Day.

Agreed to October 31, 2003.