Halloween has just ended, and as we look to Thanksgiving break, take a moment on November 11th to appreciate our veterans. 

Veterans Day, originally called Armistice Day, began on November 11, 1919, at the end of World War II. President Woodrow Wilson made it a holiday a year after the war ended. The original purpose of Armistice Day was similar to Memorial Day. It honored the fallen soldiers of World War I for their bravery. However, in 1926, Congress asked President Calvin Coolidge to make it an official, legal holiday. Following the end of World War II, Raymond Weeks, a veteran of the second World War, led a group of people, asking for the holiday to not just remember the fallen soldiers of the first Great War, but to celebrate all veterans. In 1954, Ed Rees, a U.S. Representative from Kansas, presented a bill to Congress, asking them to establish the holiday. So, on June 1, 1954, November 11th, became Veterans Day, a day to celebrate and honor all American veterans from all wars.  

Why is this day so important? Why do we put so much emphasis on it? It is because veterans have given us so much. They have sacrificed their time, lives, and more. We can afford to give them a day. Veterans remind us of what we, as a nation and a world, have gone through. They remind us of our achievements and of our struggles. This day is also important to remember, not just because of everything that has happened to our world and nation, but also to remember what the veterans have gone through. Wars are very hard, and they can cause people so much pain, especially after they return home. Veterans Day is a day to remember and thank them for their sacrifice.  

So, this Veterans Day, make a special point to celebrate it. Attend a parade, take flowers to a cemetery, say a prayer for a family member or a friend who is a veteran, and, if you see a veteran, thank them for their service.  

Works Cited:

National Today, editor. “Veteran’s Day.” National Today, nationaltoday.com/
     veterans-day/. Accessed 2022.