Tust over a century ago, on the 11th Jhour on the 11th day of the 1lth month (Nov. 11, 1918), formal hostilities ended in the First World War when an armistice with Germany went into effect. Known originally as Armistice Day, this holiday was meant to honor those who had served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War I and had been discharged in any manner other than dishonorably.
一个多世纪前，在1918年11月11日11时，随着与德国签署的停战协议生效，第一次世界大战正式结束。这个公众假日原本被称为“停战日”，旨在纪念一战时在美军服役并光荣牺牲和退伍的所有人。
Although Nov. 11 was celebrated by much of the American public from its first anniversary in 1919, it was in 1938 that the day became a legal holiday by an Act of Congress and known formally as Armistice Day. In 1945, following the end of World War II, army veteran Raymond Weeks had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans,not just those who died in World War I.Weeks led a delegation to Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, who supported the idea of National Veterans Day. The day took on this broader significance over the next decade and, in 1954, it was formally renamed Veterans Day.
虽然从1919年一周年起美国公众已广泛在11月11日举行纪念活动，但直到1938年，美国国会才通过法案，将11月11日定为法定假日，并正式命名为“停战日”。1945年，第二次世界大战结束后,退伍军人雷蒙德·威克斯提出将“停战日”扩大为纪念所有退伍军人的节日，而不仅限于一战阵亡者。威克斯率团拜会了德怀特·艾森豪威尔将军,后者支持设立“全国退伍军人节”的想法。随后十年，这一假日逐渐被赋予了相应的更广泛意义，并于1954年正式更名为“退伍军人节”。
Massachusetts was one of the first states to adopt Armistice Day as an official holiday, beginning with Gov. Calvin Coolidge's proclamation in 1919. Local organizations, including groups such as the American Legion, the Elks Club and area churches, used the occasion to host commemorations in the form of parades,concerts, balls and sermons. On Nov. 11,1919, Cambridge' Mayor Edward Quinn declared that there would be a public gathering in front of City Hall, featuring representatives from the current army and navy departments as well as members of the Grand Army of the Republic(veterans of the Civil War) and Spanish American War Veterans. The event featured a reading of the Declaration of Independence and concluded with the singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner."
马萨诸塞州是最早将“停战日”确立为官方节日的州之一，这始于1919年州长卡尔文·柯立芝的公告。当地的一些组织，包括美国退伍军人协会、麋鹿俱乐部及周边教会等,借此机会举办各种纪念活动，如游行、音乐会、舞会、布道等。1919年11月11日，剑桥市市长爱德华·奎因宣布，将在市政厅前举行公众集会，出席者包括现役陆海军代表，以及共和国军团（南北战争老兵）和美西战争老兵。活动上有人朗读《独立宣言》，最后以齐唱美国国歌《星光灿烂的旗帜》（又译《星条旗》）结束。
It was clear from this first Armistice Day celebration in Cambridge that the holiday would not be limited to those who had served in World War I. In fact,with the population of soldiers from the Civil War and Spanish American War eras disappearing rapidly, the institution of a new holiday to honor military service took on a wider and more important meaning in helping to keep public memory of those earlier struggles alive.Over the past centurybeginning well before the official shift from a World War I-specific holiday to a broader Veterans Day-Armistice Day commemorations have routinely included celebrations of all who had served in the Armed Forces, regardless of period.
从剑桥市首次“停战日”庆典可以清楚看出，这个节日并不局限于纪念一战军人。事实上，随着南北战争和美西战争的老兵人数迅速减少，设立一个新的节日来纪念曾在军队服役的人有了更广泛且更重要的意义——有助于让公众铭记早期的那些战争。过去的一个世纪，早在“停战日”从一战特定节日正式转变为纪念范围更广泛的“退伍军人节”之前，“停战日”的活动就已习惯性地将所有曾在美国军队服役者纳入纪念之列，不论何时服役。
As the world moved through an economic depression and into another world war, Armistice Day took on a new meaning, marking both the enduring hope of peace and the perilous threat of war. The fact that the United States again found itself embroiled in a global conflict not a quarter-century after the peace of 1918 caused many in Cambridge and around the country to question the continued celebration of Armistice Day. In November 1946, just over a year after the end of World War II, congressman-elect John F. Kennedy spoke to members of the Cambridge American Legion at their annual Armistice Ball. Kennedy remarked,"And now once again the soldiers and sailors and marines have come home-and Armistice Day now honors the dead of another war. Once again there are Cambridge boys among them." Kennedy's message to his listeners that night was one of cautious optimism, expressing hope that the world had learned the importance of international cooperation and mutual goodwill from its second foray into global warfare, if not from its first.
也就是二战结束刚过一年，当选国会议员的约翰·F.肯尼迪在剑桥美国退伍军人协会的年度“停战舞会”上发表讲话。肯尼迪说：“如今，士兵、水兵和海军陆战队员们又一次回到了家——而停战日’如今也要纪念另一场战争的阵亡者，其中依然有来自剑桥市的年轻人。”当晚，肯尼迪向听众传递的是一种谨慎的乐观，他表达了希望：即便第一次世界大战没有让人们汲取教训,那么通过这第二次全球战争，世界也应当认识到了国际合作与相互善意的重要性。
In 1954, the year that Armistice Day was formally changed to Veterans Day,the Cambridge Chronicle reported that a rally would be held Nov. 11 to support the United Nations Charter Review.Created in the wake of World War II to solidify a commitment to international peace and cooperation, the United Nations proved to be both inspiring and divisive"during the Cold War era. Many in Cambridge and beyond felt that suich an international body was the only way to ensure peace, but others felt that the U.N. would give too much power and influence to the Soviet Union.
1954年，“停战日”正式更名为“退伍军人节”。当年的《剑桥纪事报》报道称，11月11日将举行一场集会，以支持《联合国宪章》的审议。联合国是二战后建立的，旨在巩固国际和平与合作的承诺。然而，在冷战时期，它既鼓舞人心，又充满争议。剑桥当地及外地有许多人认为，这样的国际组织是确保和平的唯一途径；但也有人认为，联合国会让苏联获得过多的权力与影响力。
Other, seemingly smaller changes in the way Veterans Day was commemorated also proved divisive within the city. A 1971 article in the Chronicle states that "Cambridge Veterans of World War I still have a lot of fight left in them. They are hopping mad over the fact that the observance of Veterans Day, originally World War One Armistice Day, has been pushed back from the historically accurate date of Nov. 11 to a Monday in October." The article's author goes on to compare the changing of the holiday (it was soon returned to its original Nov. 11 date after public pressure) amounted to the kind of "rewriting of history"of which the Soviet government was guilty-hardly the example Americans should want to follow.
在剑桥市，退伍军人节的纪念方式出现的其他看似较小的变化也曾引发争议。1971年，《剑桥纪事报》刊文称：“剑桥的一战老兵依然斗志不减。他们气愤至极，因为“退伍军人节’——最初的“停战日”已由原先历史上准确的11月11日改到了10月的某个星期”文章作者进一步批评道，更改节日日期（在公众压力下很快又恢复为11月11日）无异于“篡改历史”，这是苏联政府惯常的做法——显然不是美国人应该效仿的。
In Cambridge, as in most American cities, World War I has been overshadowed by the legacies of the Civil War before it and World War II after it. Although the United States gave monetary and military aid to our allies for almost the entire course of the war, the country was only directly involved in fighting from 1917-1918-none of which happened on American soil. Because it was so closely identified with Europe and its colonies, World War I received relatively little attention in the public sphere after the first few years after its end.The looming economic crisis that would become the Great Depression, which in turn segued into the Second World War,meant that World War I got short shrift in the area of public commemoration.In fact, the only significant memorial to the Cantabrigians² who fought in World War I is a work by Boston sculptor Karl Skoog, "The Supreme Sacrifice," which was installed in the Cambridge Cemetery in 1922. Because this sculpture sits on cemetery grounds, instead of in a well-traveled location such as Cambridge Common, it-and the city's history in World War I-—remains elusive.
与大多数美国城市一样，在剑桥市，一战的影响往往被之前的南北战争和之后的二战所掩盖。虽然美国在几平整卡一战期问都向盟国提供了资金和军事授助，但真正直接拿战的时间仅限于1917至0年，且战事从未发生在美国有土。由于一战与欧洲及其殖民地紧密相关，战后没几年，美国公众就不大关注了。随之而来的经济危机最终演变为大萧条，进而引发二战，更使一战在公共纪念方面所获重视十分有限。事实上，唯一为参加一战的剑桥老兵所立的重要纪念物是波士顿雕塑家卡尔·斯库格的作品《至高无上的牺牲》，于1922年安放在剑桥公墓。由于位于墓园内而非剑桥公园这样的人流密集处，这座雕塑——以及剑桥市在一战中的历史——始终鲜有人问津。
As we prepare to once again mark the Veterans Day holiday, it is worth remembering its origins as Armistice Day and understanding the sense of hope that accompanied the end of World War I and what the world hoped would be a new dawn of international peace and security.
在我们再次迎来退伍军人节之际，有必要回顾这一节日作为“停战日”的起源，并铭记一战结束时它所承载的希望——世界曾寄望于一个国际和平与安全新纪元的到来。
（译者单位：北京化工大学）
