University of Arizona

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Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day, celebrated every year on November 11, honors the men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces. Beginning in 1918, Veteran's Day--formerly known as Armistice Day--commemorated the end of World War I in 1918. While the Treaty of Versailles ended World War I on June 28, 1919, fighting ended November 11, 1918 when an armistice went into effect. In the mid-1950s after the end of several more wars and conflicts, President Eisenhower changed the name to Veteran's Day. 

Nearly since its founding, the military has had an ROTC presence on the University of Arizona's campus including a cavalry unit that existed from 1919 to the mid-1940s. Like communities all over the country, Tucson and the UA were affected by World War I with thirteen UA students dying in the War. Alexander Berger gifted the Memorial Fountain to the University to honor the students who lost their lives in the War which included his nephew. During World War II thousands of men trained on campus for different military programs such as the Naval Training School. The use of Old Main by the US Navy saved the condemned building.

For more photos of Tucson and the UA during war years check the Arizona, Southwestern and Borderlands Photograph Collection and University of Arizona Photograph Collection. For more information on the UA’s involvement in World War II see AZ 025 (The University of Arizona and World War II, 1942-1951), which includes a manuscript and reports. The Arizona Daily Wildcat offers unique insight into the effects of war on student life including articles about the war effort and published letters from soldiers.

Sailors marching through Main Gate, 1942