It's about time I took a break from politics and put up a trivia post, but one that's not at all trivial. Today we'll see how smart you are when it comes to Veterans Day.
By the numbers:
How many veterans are there in the United States?
a. 17 Million
b. 22 million
c. 26 million
d. 31 million
2. What are the 5 states with the highest veterans population?
3. What 3 states have the highest per capita of veterans?
4. Lowest?
5. What city in the US has the most veterans?
Lets not ignore history:
6. Veterans Day was originally known as
a. Remembrance Day
b. Armistice Day
c. Bastille Day
d. Victory Day
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a. That marks the date Robert E. Lee surrendered the last major Confederate army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse to end the Civil War
b. That's when the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I, was signed.
c. President Woodrow Wilson picked that day from a list of recommendations submitted by the heads of major veterans service organizations.
d. Congress wanted the holiday to fall between Labor Day and Thanksgiving.
8. Who first proposed that Armistice Day be renamed Veterans Day?
a. Dwight D. Eisenhower
b. Alvin J. King
c. Douglas MacArthur
d. Harry S. Truman
9. What president signed the bill in to law making Veterans Day?
a. Truman
b. Eisenhower
c. Kennedy
d. Truman
10. Congress passed the Monday Holiday Law which established the fourth Monday in October as the new date for the observance of Veteran's Day. When did the law take effect?
a. 1971
b. 1973
c. 1975
d. 1976
11. What year does it return to the original date?
a. 1975
b. 1978
c. 1980
d. 1982
12. What flower is a symbol of Veterans Day?
a. Forget-Me-Not
b. Lily
c. Poppy
d. Pansy
a. Major General Smedley Darlington Butler
b. Abraham Lincoln
c. Walt Whitman
d. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
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a. "America, The Beautiful," by Katharine Lee Bates
b. "God Bless America," by Irving Berlin
c. "Party in the USA" by Miley Cirus
d. Or was it the song below?
Duty Honor Country
The staff here at The Chant are all Veterans and I doubt I'm alone in believing that the Oath of Office I took when I left the Service is still in effect. With that belief, I feel a duty and responsibility to our country, not only in how it is defended, but how it is run as well.
15. What percentage of all veterans voted in the 2012 presidential election?
a. 41 percent
b. 51 percent
c. 61 percent
d. 70 percent
16. How many of the 44 U.S. presidents have been veterans?
a. 25
b. 28
c. 31
d. 34
17. What is the lowest rank authorized to be worn by the soldier guarding the Tomb of the Unknown?
18. The motto of the VA refers to its duty to taking care of our Vets. In 1930, the VA health care system had 54 hospitals. Today, it's a bit larger. Just how many facilities are there?
a. 171
b. 350
c. 126
d. 35
19. How many people are employees of the VA?
20. What city hosts the largest Veterans celebration in the country?
Most of you got every question correct and there's no need to check the answers, but for the others, here you go:
1. There are more than 22 million war veterans in the United States, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
2. The five states with the most vets are not surprisingly the states with the largest populations: California, 1,918,073; Texas, 1,683,237; Florida, 1,617,248; Pennsylvania, 933,404; New York, 913,489; Washington Roughly 1 in 10 people in Alaska, Maine and
3 and 4: Highest and lowest per capita of veterans? Roughly 1 in 10 people in Alaska, Maine and Montana have served. And while NY has the 5th most vets, they have the lowest percentage, followed only by New Jersey.
5. What city has the most? San Diego 234K, unfortunately, almost 1400 of them are homeless. Another source listed Los Angeles as having the most- of both.
6. Veterans Day was originally known as Armistice Day and was meant to honor the nation's World War I veterans. Armistice Day officially received its name in 1926 through a congressional resolution and became a national holiday in 1938.
7. It's actually none of the above, but I'll accept B. World War I officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside Versailles, France. Fighting had actually ended seven months earlier, however, when an armistice between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
8. In 1953, Alvin J. King, a store owner in Emporia, Kan., proposed that Armistice Day be changed to Veterans Day to recognize and honor American veterans of all wars and conflicts. King came up with the idea after his nephew, John Cooper, was killed in action during World War II.
9. Eisenhower
10. Passed in 1968, but it was enacted in 1971
11. I'll take A or B- 1975 or 1978. In 1975, President Ford signed legislation to return the Federal observance of Veteran's Day to the original date, but it didn't go into effect until 1978. Since the change to the fourth Monday in October, 46 states had either continued to commemorate original date or had reverted back to the original date based on popular sentiment.
12. It's the Poppy. The story begins with the famous poem, "In Flanders Fields," written by John McCrae in 1915 ("In Flanders fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses, row on row"). In 1918 Moina Belle Michael, on reading McCrae's poem, pledged to always wear a red poppy as a sign of remembrance. Her idea spread, and in 1924 the Veterans of Foreign Wars launched its "Buddy Poppy" program to help disabled and needy veterans.
Side note- The Pansy is the symbol of Conscientious Objectors Day
13. The line is from the final paragraph of Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address, which he delivered on March 4, 1865, towards the end of the Civil War.
14. What song debuted on Armistice Day in 1938?
B. "God Bless America," by Irving Berlin He wrote it in 1918, but pulled it out of the drawer during the rise of Hitler, changed a few lyrics, and renamed it "God Bless America." On Nov. 10, Kate Smith sang it as the closing number on an Armistice Day edition of her immensely popular CBS Radio show, which became Kate Smith's signature song.
15. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the 15.8 million veterans — 70 percent — voted in the 2012 presidential election, compared with 63 percent of nonveterans.
16. Even though the Constitution assigns the duties of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to the President, only 31 of 'em took the job as Vets. No member of the U.S. Marine Corps or U.S. Coast Guard has yet been elected President.
17. He (or she?) does not wear a rank insignia so as not to outrank the unknowns.
18. How many VA facilities? The answer is sort of all of the above- 171 medical centers; more than 350 outpatient, community, and outreach clinics; 126 nursing home care units; and 35 live-in care facilities for injured or disabled vets.
19. There are 321,000 employees of the VA.
20. A parade held on Veterans Day in New York City is the largest celebration of veterans in the country. Although there are probably plenty of others that claim it, including Branson MO.
Great trivia test Tuna!
ReplyDelete#17, I had no clue, gives me an even greater respect for the Guards at the Tomb.
I started to get spun up over #7 then realized that it was probably a trick question. I liked the way you formed the answer. Though I would quibble that "B" is only partially correct. But your heart is in the right place. :-)
Yup, the Oath still holds. Until the day I die.
Good quiz. (And, like OldAFSarge, I didn't know about #17 and I still consider my oath to be in effect . . . though to what end I can't say. Age doncha know?)
ReplyDeleteI hate tests where dates... or any numbers for that matter... are involved.
ReplyDeleteI knew the 11 - 11 - 11, but you didn't ask that directly.
It's called Remembrance Day in Britain and didn't they do the poppy first?
Somebody asked me if I marched in the Veterans Parade we held the other day.
I responded, "March?"
One minor point on #17- There is always a Sergeant of the Guard at the Tomb. He/she can and will march the beat if required. They also do the COG inspections.
ReplyDeleteIs it just me, but iirc when growing up in small-town central Illinois in the 50s EVERYONE wore a poppy. Today, not so much..
ReplyDeleteAbout the Tomb? REALLY funny true story. Had a couple of fraternity brothers who went out one night during the week, got drunk and somehow ended up in a graveyard wherein upon they decided for NO LOGICAL REASON WHATSOEVER ('cept for the logic of drunks) to remove a civil-war era headstone, transport it (w.o. breaking the slab, no mean feat when two guys are manhandling it into the trunk of a car with no padding) to the LSU Campus and plant it on the steps of the entrance to the library. Of course made both the school and local newspapers. Plus they were never caught! Fast forward4 yrs and, as I'm passing back thru Baton Rouge on leave on my way to my PCS assignment in the UK I stop by the fraternity house. I still knew a few guys who were now in grad school and we started the old "where is xxx and what is he doing? " conversation. When the names of the two aforementioned tomb raiders came up it is mentioned that one joined the Army and is now part of the Old Guard assigned to guard the Tomb of the Unknowns. "I wonder if the Army knows it has a grave-robber guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns" one brother said slyly with a big grin. LOL!
ReplyDeleteWho better to guard a tomb?
Delete"Side note- The Pansy is the symbol of Conscientious Objectors Day"
ReplyDeleteJust....perfect.....