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OTTUMWA, IOWA -- Iowa may become the first state in the Union to officially grant servicemen and women a day off work...on Veterans Day.

On Wednesday, the Iowa House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a measure by a vote of 93 to 2 that would allow all Iowa veterans to take Veterans Day off, without using a vacation day or other compensatory time.

Under the measure, veterans would have to give their employers 30 days notice that they wanted to take the day off, and by law, those businesses could not refuse. It would, however, be up to the business to decide if the worker would be paid for the day off.

Denny Whitson is a self-employed Vietnam Veteran, and the former Commander of the VFW Post in Ottumwa.

"Personally I think all veterans ought to have Veterans Day off automatically. Of course, it would throw the country in total gridlock because veterans play a major role in the workforce of the country," Whitson said.

He estimated that approximately a fourth of his fellow veterans may not even want to take the day off.

"When I came out of the service, I just preferred that nobody knew I had ever been in because it was that Vietnam Era, and we were not really popular people," Whitson said. "So being a veteran [then] wasn't all that important."

Whitson said that this bill is a step in the right direction and that it is "nice the legislature can agree on something."

The measure now moves to the Iowa Senate, where it is expected to be quickly passed.