Raymond Weeks, a World War II veteran from Birmingham, Alabama, had the idea in 1945 of a national holiday that would honor all war veterans, living and dead, to be celebrated on Armistice Day. Weeks led a delegation to Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, who supported the idea of National Veterans Day.
Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a United States federal holiday observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces. It coincides with holidays in several countries, including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, which also occur on the anniversary of the end of World War I. Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. At the urging of major U.S. veteran organizations, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.