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Remembering the significance of Veterans Day November 11 According to information on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Web site, this nation is loosing military veterans at the rate of 1,800 per day. Of the 25 million or so veterans currently alive, nearly three of every four served during a war or an official period of hostility. Regardless of when or where they served, they deserve to be honored, which is why, every year, I ask residents to remember the significance of Veterans Day, November 11, according to Town Supervisor John Venditto. "Our veterans represent the finest in the American character," Supervisor Venditto said. "They are the courageous men and women who answered our country's call during World Wars I and II. They are the men and women who suffered through the biting cold winters and scorching summers in Korea, the booby-trapped jungles and steamy heat of Vietnam, and, more recently, the unforgiving mountains of Afghanistan and deserts of Iraq. They are the men and woman who went off to places like Somalia, Grenada, Lebanon, Panama and the Persian Gulf. They represent all walks of life, religions and ethnic backgrounds. "What is supposed to be a day set aside to honor our nation's veterans has gotten lost in the flurry of store sales and, for many people, the pleasure of a day off from work," Supervisor Venditto continued. "While I don't begrudge anyone a little bargain hunting or relaxing, I implore everyone to take some time during the day to salute our veterans because if it were not for their sacrifices, we probably wouldn't be enjoying the luxury of shopping or having a day off from work." The Supervisor went on to recount the history of the establishment of Veterans Day. In 1921, an unknown World War I American soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery on November 11, the anniversary of the end of World War I. Similar ceremonies had already been held in England and France, where an unknown solider was buried in each nation's highest place of honor...in England, Westminster Abbey and in France, the Arc de Triomphe...giving universal recognition to the celebrated ending of World War I. The day became known as Armistice Day. Armistice Day officially received its name through a Congressional resolution in 1926, and, in 1938, it became a legal holiday by an act of Congress. November 11 continued to be observed as Armistice Day until 1954 when, at the urging of veterans' organizations, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an act of Congress formally changing the name to Veterans Day "in order to expand the significance of that (Armistice Day) celebration and in order that a grateful nation might pay appropriate homage to the veterans of all its wars who have contributed so much to the preservation of this nation..." In 1968, Congress moved Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in November, but returned it to its traditional date in 1978 after heavy lobbying by veterans groups and concerned citizens, who believed that moving the observance to create a three-day holiday only served to take the focus off the historical significance of the day.
"The debt we owe our veterans is one that is all but impossible to repay, which is why it is so important that on Veterans Day, we remember and salute their service," Supervisor Venditto commented. "They are the hidden heroes of our nation. They are fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors who answered our nation's call and stood ready to fight and, possibly, die. Their sacrifices have given us every day we live in freedom. For the sake of all our veterans, as well as for those currently serving in our Armed Forces here and abroad, let us not allow this Veterans Day to go by without offering them some show of our gratitude and respect for their service. Were it not for them, in the words of President Theodore Roosevelt '.....all our annals would be meaningless and our great experiment in popular freedom and self-government a gloomy failure.'"
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