November 11, 1947

Birmingham hosted the first Veterans Day celebration in the United States. World War II veteran Raymond Weeks organized the event to honor all veterans on Armistice Day, which celebrated the end of World War I. Local festivities included a parade, which continues today as the nation’s longest and largest Veterans Day parade. Weeks served as the director of the National Veterans Day Celebration for 38 years and, in 1982, received the Presidential Citizens Medal from President Ronald Reagan. The president described Weeks as a person who “devoted his life to serving others, his community, the American veteran and his nation.” The holiday officially replaced Armistice Day in 1954.

Read more at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Birmingham Veterans Day Parade, 2007. (AlabamaNewsCenter)

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s Veterans Day Parade will be a virtual event. (contributed)

This year, the parade will evolve around Railroad Park, starting at Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard and First Avenue South at 1:30 p.m. and ending at First Avenue South and 20th Street South. (Alabama NewsCenter/file)

Birmingham Veterans Day Parade, 2007. (AlabamaNewsCenter)

Birmingham Veterans Day Parade, 2007. (AlabamaNewsCenter)

Birmingham Veterans Day Parade, 2010. (AlabamaNewsCenter)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.