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U.S. Holiday closure to mark Veterans Day

November 9, 2006

The American Embassy in Dar es Salaam will be closed on Friday, November 10, 2006, for observance of the U.S. Veterans Day holiday. All offices, including the visa section, USAID, Peace Corps and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will resume operations on Monday, November 13, 2006.

According to a statement from the Embassy, Veterans Day is a federal holiday observed to honour American veterans of all wars for their patriotism, love of the country and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

“To protect the Nation they love, our veterans stepped forward when America needed them most,” President George W. Bush stated in his 2006 Veterans Day Proclamation. “In conflicts around the world, their sacrifice and resolve helped destroy the enemies of freedom and saved millions from oppression. In answering history’s call with honour, decency, and resolve, our veterans have shown the power of liberty and earned the respect and admiration of a grateful Nation.”

President Bush added, "As we recall the service of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guardsmen, we are reminded that the defence of freedom comes with great loss and sacrifice.” He said, “This Veterans Day, we give thanks to those who have served freedom’s cause; we salute the members of our Armed Forces who are confronting our adversaries abroad; and we honour the men and women who left America’s shores but did not live to be thanked as veterans. They will always be remembered by our country.”

Veterans Day was originally called Armistice Day to recall the end of the First World War, when on the 11th of November at 11 o'clock in 1918, the guns fell silent after a devastating war that transformed American society. The holiday acquired its present name and broadened significance in the U.S. on November 11, 1954, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill proclaiming November 11 as Veterans Day, to honour all of the men and women who had served the United States in combat.