A Time to Remember

Every year on November 11, the United States celebrates Veterans Day, and Canada celebrates Remembrance Day, honoring our military service members.

At the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of November 1918, the armistice was signed in France to end World War I, the war to end all wars. In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson declared November 11^th as Armistice Day to commemorate the end of World War I on the 1^st anniversary of the signing of the armistice.

Armistice Day was also first observed in Canada in 1919. However, from 1921 to 1930, Armistice Day was observed in Canada on the Monday of the week in which November 11^th fell. In 1931, Armistice Day was renamed Remembrance Day and set to be observed each year on November 11^th.

Then in 1938, in the United States during the Franklin Roosevelt administration, Armistice Day became a legal federal holiday, honoring the veterans of World War I and celebrating peace. In 1947, in Birmingham, Alabama, the term Veterans Day was first used to honor World War II veterans. This began a national movement to establish a national Veterans Day to honor all veterans.

In 1954, during the Eisenhower administration, Armistice Day was officially established on November 11^th each year as Veterans Day, thereafter honoring veterans of all wars. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act moving Veterans Day to the 4^th Monday of November. Veterans and the public were not happy with that change, and in 1978 President Ford signed legislation returning Veterans Day to November 11^th. This better honored the historical significance of the World War I armistice. This holiday now honors all service members whether they served in war or not.

Today, Veterans Day and Remembrance Day is a time to remember, honor, and pray for all veterans from the founding of our countries to this very day. Our military has kept our counties free from enemies in all corners of the world. Without the military, America and Canada would not be the nations they are today. The world would be a poorer place had our militaries not been available in World War I, World War II, and the Cold War, and the nature of the planet would be quite different.

We must also remember and pray for all active duty and reserve service members, and just as important remember and pray for service members families who also serve in their own way.