Just six years after the end of World War II, in 1951, veterans groups were already complaining about low attendance at parades, and the Newport Daily News reported that Victory Day was generally “observed in Sunday fashion, most people heading for the beaches or taking an afternoon ride.” The following year, a different legislator proposed eliminating Victory Day on the grounds that it put border-town businesses at a disadvantage against their competitors in Massachusetts and Connecticut.Įfforts have often been made to remind Rhode Islanders of the reason for the holiday, but frequently in vain. Edward Gallogly, a future Democratic nominee for governor, proposed eliminating Victory Day as a legal state holiday and replacing it with Good Friday - an idea with obvious appeal in heavily Catholic Rhode Island. Meanwhile, local pushback against the holiday started early. But not everyone liked the idea: The Providence Journal’s editorial board argued Rhode Island lawmakers should cancel an existing holiday rather than add a ninth in the form of Victory Day. Veterans groups had been pushing for a World War II holiday since as early as 1946, the year after the war ended. Rhode Island established Victory Day in March 1948, almost three years after the end of World War II. 14 deserves special attention for its interplay of state, local, national, and even international politics.” Senate report on the topic.Īs far back as the 1950s, The New York Times wrote that Victory Day – which the paper, like many news outlets then and now, referred to as “V-J Day” – was “always a big legal holiday in Rhode Island.” Author Len Travers, in his “Encyclopedia of American Holidays and National Days,” remarks: “The tenacity of Rhode Island in celebrating Aug. (Arkansas state employees were given their own birthdays off.) While some websites claim Victory Day used to be a federal holiday, too, that appears to be a myth – there is no mention of it in an authoritative 1999 U.S. 14 commemoration, which had been adopted back in 1949, according to state historian David Ware. Rhode Island has been an outlier with Victory Day since 1975, the year Arkansas lawmakers adopted a new list of legal holidays that left off the state’s Aug. It has always been called “Victory Day” on the statute books, going all the way back to its establishment in 1948. And despite what many residents believe, the legal name of Rhode Island’s holiday was never “V-J Day” (short for “Victory Over Japan”). 14 - when Japan’s surrender was announced in the United States - the holiday is observed on the second Monday in August. While the actual event that Victory Day commemorates happened on Aug. ( WPRI) – Monday is Rhode Island’s 74th annual Victory Day, continuing the state’s custom of being the only place in America that honors the end of World War II with a legal holiday. On Twitter: the first to know.PROVIDENCE, R.I. For example, Santander Bank will stay open, but all BankRI offices and Harbor One Bank branches in Rhode Island will be closed. Some banks will be closed, while others will be open. District Court in Providence will be closed. The U.S. Postal Service will deliver the mail and post offices will be open, but U.S. In most cases, federal offices will stay open. Rhode Island Beach Guide: Everything you need to know about the best beaches in the state The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority will operate a holiday schedule. For example, Providence city offices are closed, and trash scheduled for pickup Monday will be collected Tuesday. Services like trash collection will be postponed. Most state, city and town offices will be closed Monday. Story continues What's open, closed on Victory Day? The group is also delivering meals to World War II veterans at the Rhode Island Veterans Home and families joining them. The youngest veteran in attendance will be 98 years old, Louie Dolce, Cianci said. "Kudos to the State of Rhode Island for being only state to still have a holiday for Victory Day." "Honoring and paying tribute to the greatest generation on this day is a no brainer," John Cianci, department commander for the Italian American War Veterans, said in announcing the dinner. Monday, the Italian American War Veterans of the United States, Inc., and the War Tribute Car Cruise committee are hosting a free dinner for local World War II veterans and their guest at Perella's Ristorante, 311 Metacom Ave. It will be at the Pawtucket Veterans Memorial at 175 Roosevelt Ave., at the corner of Exchange Street.Īt 3 p.m. The Pawtucket Veterans Council and the City of Pawtucket will hold a ceremony at 11 a.m. 14, 1945, at Exchange Place in Providence.
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