Veterans Day In Birmingham: What To Know

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Birmingham's Veterans Day parade held each year has been the longest running Veterans Day parade in the country since the holiday was made official by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1954. In fact, a Birmingham veteran was responsible for the holiday.

Armistice Day was set aside to honor veterans of World War I. But after World War II required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen in the nation’s history, a World War II veteran from Birmingham named Raymond Weeks had an idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans.

In 1947, Weeks led a delegation to Washington, D.C. to urge Eisenhower (the the Army Chief of Staff) to create a national holiday that honored all veterans. In 1954, Eisenhower signed legislation establishing November 11th as Veterans Day.

This year, Veterans Day celebrations begin Nov. 10 with the National Veterans Award Dinner at the Sheraton Birmingham Ballroom. The National Veterans Award was created in Birmingham for America’s first official National Veterans Day to honor an outstanding veteran in the United States each year who has made the greatest contribution to further the patriotic interests of veterans and veteran organizations throughout the country. Every year, the award is presented at the National Veterans Award Dinner in Birmingham.

The parade begins at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 11. The route has been provided by the City of Birmingham:

The route begins at Richard Arrington Blvd. and 1st Ave S., and ends at 1st Ave S. and 20th St. S.