Citizens who attended a Veterans Day ceremony in Danville Monday got a history lesson about the holiday. Bill Pickett explains….
Danny Mullins of Danville American Legion Post 210 noted it was eighty-four years ago when five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa died during World War II….
{AUDIO: “The Sullivan brothers story is one of unimaginable sacrifice and national heroism. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt extended his condolences to the family, and the U. S. Navy honored them by naming two destroyers after them.”}
The five Sullivan brothers had one sister, who served in the Navy. Mullins said Monday’s ceremony was to honor them ‘’and all families who have given so much.’’
State Representative Brandun Sweizer (on right) was the keynote speaker. He noted Veterans Day originated in the early 1900s…
{AUDIO: “President Woodrow Wilson wanted to assign a day to remember the sacrifices of all the men and women that fought and died in World War I. It wasn’t until after the Korean War, in 1954, that President Dwight D. Eisenhauer changed the name to Veterans Day to commemorate all the veterans that served in all the wars in the past U. S. history.”}
(The man to the left of Representative Schweizer in above photo is Tom Barrett of the Marine Corp League who was master of the ceremony.) The event at the World War Two Memorial (along Hazel Street) in Danville was one of several Veterans Day ceremonies held around the area. VFW Post 728, American Legion Post 210, and the Marine Corp League were all involved in the Danville ceremony.
