November 11 is celebrated as Veterans’ Day in honor of the men and women who laid their lives in war to uphold freedom for their nation. Veteran’s Day was initially called Armistice Day, which marked the end of World War I on November 11, 1918. The war ended on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year. It was in 1954 that President Eisenhower called it Veterans’ Day.
This is a solemn occasion to remember those brave people who valued their country’s welfare more than their own. Those people had families. Most of them had spouses and children. They also had aged parents that depended on them. But despite all these obligations, they felt that freedom of their nation was most important and they did not hesitate to lay their lives down for that cause.
We can learn a lot from the remarkable sacrifice that these exemplary men and women left for us to follow. We can read and study many of the World War accounts of the bravery that these soldiers exhibited in war. There are also many video and film documentaries of the World War years from which we can learn quite a lot about the things that happened during these wars.
As a mark of respect, we can observe a minute of silence at 11 a.m. on November 11 every year. We can also join the Memorial Day services that are held in many towns and cities all across America. Together we can reflect on the fact that the kind of life that we enjoy today results from the sacrifice of many men and women that lived before us.