When the so-called Uniforms Holiday Bill became law in 1968, many Americans ­ especially military veterans and their families ­ stood up and pushed back.

Seven years later, the late President Gerald Ford signed legislation that shifted the focus of Veterans Day back to the reason it was created in the first place: To honor all U.S. veterans who served their country.

We of a certain age can recall the combination of confusion, irritation, grousing, head-shaking and, in extreme cases, predictions of the beginning of the end of America’s global military superiority.

I was still driving my teachers crazy in the classrooms and halls of the Elm Street version of Nashua High when Americans observed ­ or at least tried to ­ the first Veterans Day under that Uniforms Holiday Bill.

It would fall on Monday, Oct. 25, 1971.

Cue the pushback.

“Many states and most veterans organizations disagreed with the date change … ,” according to a Washington Post story on the history of Veterans Day. Citing the “historic and patriotic importance” of Veterans Day, the vast majority of veterans organizations continued observing the holiday on Nov. 11.

There would be seven more of those somewhat disjointed Veterans Day observances before President Ford stepped in. Ford, in September 1975, signed a measure reversing the Veterans Day provision in the Uniforms Holiday Bill, paving the way for a reunited America to begin observing the “real” Veterans Day in 1978.

You’ll remember that the Uniforms Holiday Bill also shifted Memorial Day, Washington’s Birthday (later Presidents Day) and Columbus Day to Mondays. As I recall there was some pushback at the time over moving Memorial Day, which of course was always observed on May 30, no matter the day of the week.

The other two, not surprisingly, drew little if any controversy, as I recall; heck, there’s still debate over whether the third Monday in February is officially Washington’s Birthday or Presidents Day.

But regardless of what you call it, it translates ­ at least for government employees ­ to “holiday” and “three-day weekend.”

I didn’t know, until I looked it up, that Lincoln’s Birthday ­ Feb. 12 ­ was never designated a national holiday. The closest it has come, apparently, is being lumped in with Washington’s Birthday under Presidents Day.

Veterans Day, as we Americans all (hopefully) know, is rooted in the post-World War I yearning to celebrate world peace.

It was a peace that folks believed was a permanent condition; after all, what country in its right mind would even consider starting a war after the horror show much of the world and its citizens had just been through.

Its name varied: “The Great War,” “The World War,” “The War to End All Wars.” At the time, nobody could imagine its name would one day become “World War I.”

Although the war officially ended upon the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919, fighting didn’t entirely cease until another agreement ­ a “peace agreement” known as an armistice ­ was signed on Nov. 11.

To illustrate America’s committment to the soldiers who fought so hard for what was believed to be an everlasting peace, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation commemorating an annual observance that, going forward, would take place on “the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month” ­ Nov. 11.

Suggestions for observing Armistice Day included parades, public meetings and a two-minute suspension of business at 11 a.m.

In 1926, Congress passed a resolution urging state governors to observe Armistice Day with “thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through goodwill and mutual understanding between nations,” according to the Post story.

By then, 27 states had declared Nov. 11 a legal holiday.

A dozen years later, in 1938, Congress stepped in again, this time passing legislation stating that Nov. 11 be “dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as Armistice Day.”

The holiday next took center stage in 1954, when lobbying efforts by veterans’ service organizations convinced Congress to amend their 1938 legislation by replacing “Armistice” with “Veterans.”

President Dwight Eisenhower signed the legislation on June 1, 1954.

And here’s something important to remember, especially if you’re going to tomorrow’s parade or another observance in Greater Nashua.

“Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans, while Memorial Day honors those who died in the service of their country.”

Dean Shalhoup’s column appears Sundays in The Telegraph. He may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com

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