Veterans' Day

To quote the U.S. Veterans Administration,

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"

An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday—a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as "Armistice Day." Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen in the Nation’s history; after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting in its place the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

Thank you to all who serve and have honorably served the United States armed forces. As the sign says, "Freedom is not free."

Lest I show too much national bias, I hasten to add that Armistice Day, or Remembrance Day, is observed around the world, and even in our little corner of the world. The photograph below is of a cenotaph in South End, courtesy of the Whybrows.

Not directly relevant, but close enough to the point, the photograph below is mine, taken of a decorative blob that had been part of the World Trade Center, survived in its current damaged form, and is now in New York City's Battery Park as a reminder of how dangerous the world can be.