Why do we celebrate Veterans Day?

Memorial Day has passed us by, and Veterans Day is still over two months away, but it doesn't hurt to remind everyone about the reasons we celebrate both. I thank Cracker Barrel, who gathered the information from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, for the information. They had a lovely flyer set out on their counter.

People often confuse the patriotic holidays, Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Both holidays recognize the men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces.

Here's the difference: Memorial Day is set aside to remember and honor military personnel who died in the service of their country. While those who died are also remembered on Veterans Day each November 11th, Veteran's Day is specifically to thank and honor all who served honorably in the military, in wartime or peacetime.

HISTORY OF VETERANS DAY

• World War I ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. But it was seven months earlier, on November 11, 1918 - on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month - that fighting actually ceased with an armistice between the Allied nations and Germany.
• In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as Armistice Day.
• The U.S. Congress passed a resolution on June 4, 1926 which included a presidential proclamation to display the U.S. flag on all government buildings on November 11 and for all in the U.S. to observe the day.
• An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U.S. code, Sec.87a) approved May 13, 1938, made November 11 a legal holiday, "Armistice Day", dedicated to the cause of world peace.
• The 83rd Congress amended the Act of 1938, replacing the word "Armistice" with "Veterans". On June 1, 1954, November 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.
• In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill proclaiming  November 11 as Veterans Day.
• In 1968, when Congress signed the Uniform Holiday Bill, the first Veterans Day under the new law was observed on the fourth Monday in October. There was confusion.
• In 1975, Gerald R. Ford signed a law which returned the annual observance to its original date of November 11.
• The Veterans Day National Ceremony to honor America's war dead is held each year at Arlington National Cemetery during a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns.