Today is Veterans Day, which is a federal, Missouri and county holiday. It’s also a city holiday in most communities. Most federal, Missouri, county and city offices are closed today, to observe the holiday. Banks and financial institutions are closed, and there will be no regular mail delivery.
President Dwight Eisenhower issued the first Veterans Day proclamation in 1954, calling on Americans to remember veterans sacrifices.
There are numerous Veterans Day events happening across mid-Missouri today. Columbia’s New Haven elementary school held its 30th annual Veterans Day celebration. It was titled “A Time to Remember.”
The University of Missouri will be commemorating the 100th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone at Memorial Union in Columbia, during today’s Veterans Day ceremony.
A wreath-laying ceremony starts at high noon, where the tower clock will ring 12 times while ROTC units march from Lowry Mall to the tower stairs with a color guard. Mizzou says the wreath will be placed in the archway to remember the Missouri men and women serving in the armed forces.
Memorial Union’s story started at the end of World War I, when student and faculty started calling for a memorial to MU’s fallen service members.