11-11-11

Thanks to heavy and successful lobbying from the travel and leisure industry many “federal” holidays are now celebrated on Mondays. That’s great if you work for the government, or in a bank. Not so great if you work retail. Or in a restaurant or supermarket.

But Christmas, New Years, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day and Veterans Day are not guaranteed Monday holidays. For good reasons.

Monday holidays make a lot of sense: especially if you have the day off, someplace to go and money to make it all work. But for some events that are date/tradition specific, the date, not the day of the week, is the big deal.

Very few people who are still alive remember the original event, World War I, that led to Armistice Day, the original name before it was legally changed to Veterans Day. At one point it too was celebrated on a Monday until somebody said, “hey wait a minute!” Turns out November 11 is an important date, a date to remember, even if it was (as many self-centered people say) before before they were born. Still, it happened.

World War I ended, by an armistice, that was to take effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Tragically, more than 10,000 men died that day even though their commanders knew well in advance that it was over and there was no point in fighting anymore.

Many students of history think the war shouldn’t have happened. That it could have, and should have, been avoided. They say it was a “bad” war that set the stage for even more bloodshed in a good-as-in-necessary war, World War II.

Understanding World War I, what happened and why, is important if you want to understand what’s happened since. President John F. Kennedy once told a friend that every world leader should be forced to read about it at least once a year. He recommended Barbara Tuchman’s book, The Guns of August. Not a bad idea from a bona fide veteran of World War II.

My own favorite book on the subject is 11th Hour, 11th Day, 11th Month, by Joseph Persico. He points out that more people died that day, a day when no one needed to, than on D-Day, the Allied Invasion of Normandy. That also happened before a lot of you were born, but it still happened.

Pardon the quickie history lesson. Just thought it would be nice if all of us, whether working or not today, gave it some thought. This is not a fun holiday. But is an important one.

Long Term Care

Confused about what’s going to happen to your federal Long Term Care insurance plan? Should you shop around? Is your premium really going to go up 25 percent? We’ll answer those questions, and more today at 10 a.m. My guest on Your Turn with Mike Causey is LTC expert Arthur Stein. Listen if you can, call in if you like. Or e-mail questions to me at: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com

Nearly Useless Factoid
by Suzanne Kubota

A Useful Factoid today: according to the Census Bureau, there are “over 23 million veterans in the U.S.” Find one. Shake a hand, give a hug, buy them a cup of coffee. Any little thing to say “thank you for your service.”

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