The Remembrance Of All Our Veterans Began Nearly A Century Ago.
“The War To End All Wars”
officially ended on June 28, 1919
with the signing of the Treaty of
Versailles. In fact however, WWI
had ended with a negotiated armistice months earlier.
Germany had formally surrendered on November 11, 1918, and all nations had
agreed to stop fighting while the
terms of peace were negotiated.
When the armistice was signed
between the Allies of World War
I and Germany at Compiègne,
France on that November day, it
marked an end to the hostilities
on the Western Front of World
War I. The cease-fire took effect
at the “eleventh hour of the
eleventh day of the eleventh month”in 1918.
November 11 was officially designated as Armistice Day in 1919 in remembrance of the veterans of WWI. However,as history attests, there would be other wars. After the end of World War II, most members of the Commonwealth of Nations,like United Kingdom and Canada, moved most Armistice Day events to the nearest Sunday and officially began to commemorate both World Wars. They adopted the name Remembrance Day or Remembrance Sunday.
“In 1968, the Uniform Holidays Bill was passed by Congress, which moved the celebration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. The law went into effect in 1971, but in 1975 President Ford returned Veterans Day to November 11, due to the important historical significance of the date.”
For nearly 100 years Veterans Day has honored all the men and women who served this country in the military both during war and in peacetime. It is a day of remembrance.