If you asked a person on the street why Nov. 11th is important, half will say I don’t know and the other half will say Its Veterans Day. If you ask a Historian why Nov. 11th is important they’ll most likely surprise you with a plethora of WWI trivia.
The Great War officially ended on Nov 11th 1918. To mark this momentous day Pres. Woodrow Wilson Officially Declared The 11th as Armistice Day to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiegne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o’clock in the morning. After WWII and Korea the day was renamed to Veterans Day to honor the still living Soldiers who had risked everything in defense of their nation.
“All I want from Veterans Day is for people to appreciate sacrifice.” said Intelligence and Ordinance corps Sergeant Conor O’farrell. “I feel that the reverence of a veterans sacrifice should humble and uplift people to want to be thankful, all I want is for people to be full of thanks to your family, your God and stop thinking about yourself. It’s good for you to thank people on a regular basis.”
These days, Nov 11th marks a day for sales or maybe a day off from school. Special deals or free meals may be offered to former or current service members and some communities will have a parade to honor war survivors. “You most likely wont see many Vets taking advantage of all these small specials,” said Former SF Demolition Sergeant Charles Blunt, “They appreciate the offer and that’s all they want. Us Green Beret guys couldn’t care less what people think or do, because we know no matter what happened we could get the job done and keep those people say to complain and argue.”
Veterans Day is often mistaken for Memorial Day which is a day to celebrate the souls of those who died in defense of our freedom going all the way back to the Revolutionary War. The 11th is a time to appreciate still breathing warriors who may or may not have deployed.
“It means a lot to me to see people stop by and say thank you,” said former Vietnam Veteran Mike Greco, “I grew up in an age where people would spit on me and call me a baby killer, me and my brothers were treated like crap by the hippie media over running Washington. It almost made me relived that my best friend Joey Turner was killed by a mortar instead of coming home and treated like a murder. It wasn’t until after Dessert Storm when I went for a walk with my vet hat on that someone stopped me and thanked me for my service. That thanks meant more to me then living through that war.”
No matter your political opinions, people have gone out and fought for you. Some of them are missing limbs and others just miss sleeping at night, so remember to thank your service members of every branch and have a happy Veterans Day.
