As I sit writing this, it is Veterans Day. That is Veterans with no apostrophe because according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, it is a day to honor all Veterans, not a day that belongs to them.

It is also the day for veterans, defined as someone who served in the military and was honorably discharged. Memorial Day is for those who died in service to their country and Armed Forces Day is for those currently serving. Veterans Day was originally known as Armistice Day and is sometimes referred to as Remembrance Day.

The reason we observe the day on November 11 is because hostilities in World War I (also known as The War to End All Wars) formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. The name was changed to Veterans Day in 1954.

On November 11, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson issued this message on the first Armistice Day:

“A year ago today our enemies laid down their arms in accordance with an armistice which rendered them impotent to renew hostilities, and gave to the world an assured opportunity to reconstruct its shattered order and to work out in peace a new and more just set of international relations. The soldiers and people of the European Allies had fought and endured for more than four years to uphold the barrier of civilization against the aggressions of armed force. We ourselves have been in the conflict something more than a year and a half.

“With splendid forgetfulness of mere personal concerns, we remodeled our industries, concentrated our financial resources, increased our agricultural output, and assembled a great army, so that at the last our power was a decisive factor in the victory. We were able to bring the vast resources, material and moral, of a great and free people to the assistance of our associates in Europe who had suffered and sacrificed without limit in the cause for which we fought.

“Out of this victory there arose new possibilities of political freedom and economic concert. The war showed us the strength of great nations acting together for high purposes, and the victory of arms foretells the enduring conquests which can be made in peace when nations act justly and in furtherance of the common interests of men.

“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 nations.”

As we ponder the words of this past president, we remember that this day is more than just another legal holiday for some. It is a day to remember, to celebrate, and to honor those who have fought for the ideals that this country stands for. When I was young, we used to stand for a moment of silence at 11 a.m. That tradition no longer seems to exist as the way we celebrate the day has changed. But we still salute the flag, recognize area veterans, and end with the playing of Taps.

To all of our veterans, I say, “Thank you for our freedom. Thank you for my freedom!”