VETERANS DAY, 2015

This coming Wednesday, we have another opportunity to honor those who served in our military.  In order to get more familiar with this observance,  we suggest you revisit two Bullis Book Chronicles from previous years.

"HONORING VETERANS" (November 5, 2011)

http://bullisbookchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/11/honoring-veterans.html

This post relates some of the history of this observance,  originally designated as "a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace ...."


And,

"FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY," November 11, 2014

http://bullisbookchronicles.blogspot.com/2014/11/for-love-of-country.html

The title of this post refers to a contemporary book, For Love of Country: What Our Veterans Can teach Us About Citizenship, Heroism and Sacrifice, by Howard Schultz and Rajiv Chandrasekaran.

How does this book connect to the Bullises?  The Bullis family  has a long and distinguished history of serving their country's military. Beginning with Philip Bullis, who served in Major Savage's Company during King Philip's War in 1675-1676; continuing with Charles Bullis who served in the Revolutionary War in the Vermont Militia; John Lapham Bullis, whose lengthy military career spanned the Civil War, Indian Wars, and Spanish-American War; and Charlie Bullis, who served in World War I. 

And now, a question for you: How can we show our appreciation to our Veterans? Here're a few suggestions:  Attend a Veterans Day event, fly a flag, write a card or email to some veterans thanking them for their service, or sit down with a veteran and listen to that person tell about his/her experiences.

HONORING VETERANS

This week our volunteers assembled books, pamphlets, posters, photos, and medals to include in a display case outside the Bullis Room. Here is one of the posters included:

(Lower caption reads: "Supplement to Engineering News Record, November 19, 1917."

As we worked on the display, we wondered about the history of this holiday, so we consulted Wikipedia's Veterans Day article and learned that November 11 "...is also celebrated as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in other parts of the world...."  The article also reminded us that on November 11, 1919,  President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Armistice Day as a holiday. President Calvin Coolidge issued another proclamation in 1926 that called for November 11 to be observed with appropriate ceremonies, and in 1938 Congress proclaimed November 11 a legal holiday, "a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day'." Finally, 

in 1953, an Emporia, Kansas shoe repair shop owner "had the idea to expand Armistice Day into 'All' Veterans Day...." With the help of U.S. Representative Ed Rees, also from Emporia, a bill for the holiday was pushed through Congress. "President Dwight Eisenhower signed it into law on May 26, 1954. Congres amended the act on June 1, 1954, replacing 'Armistice" with 'Veterans,' and it has been known as Veterans Day since."

On this November 11 as you celebrate in your own way, whatever that might be, we suggest you also stop by the library and look at our display. The case's contents are only a small part of similar items in the collection. If you'd like to see more, please feel free to stop by.

REMEMBERING AGAIN THOSE WHO SERVED

This week, we again remember and sincerely thank all the men and women who have served and are serving in our Armed Forces.

And we suggest that you look at our November 12, 2009 post, which lists some Bullis family members who served their country through military service beginning in 1675.  The most well-known of those members is John Lapham Bullis, who proved himself militarily in the Civil and Spanish American wars as well as on the American frontier.