Veterans Day

Probably only old farts like me remember that today used to be known as Armistice Day, to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Versailles at 11 o'clock in the morning, on November 11, 1918, marking the end of World War I, and honoring all those who'd sacrificed in it.

(No, I wasn't there but back in the old days we used to be taught a subject called history.)

Yesterday, November 10, was the 229th anniversary of the founding of the United States Marine Corps, and on that same date in 1954, on its 179th anniversary, President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicated the U.S.M.C. War Memorial.


(photo by Doyle)

That same year, President Eisenhower signed a bill changing November 11 to Veterans Day, in honor of all those who've served America in all wars.

Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier. And, our soldiers don't just give freedom broad, they preserve it for us here at home.

For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest.

It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag.

Sen. Zell Miller - September 1, 2004

May God bless those those who've served, are serving now, and all their families.