Today is Veteran's day, the day the United States honors and remembers all of her Veterans and the sacrifices that they have made. This week we had two occasions to remember; yesterday, November 10th, was the Marine Corps 234th birthday. Semper Fi! America is proud of her veterans and proud of her armed forces. To paraphrase the Bible, "No greater love does a man have than that he would lay down his life for his friends", and many have done just that, at home and abroad. The toll that war takes on American families is unfathomable. It is not just a physical toll, but a psychological and social one as well. Many soldiers come home only to find that their spouses have moved on and their lives are turned upside down. Yet, they still do it, they still go far away from home to protect and defend the rest of us. Hopefully, we are willing to show them the same loyalty.

World War I officially ended with the signing of the "Treaty of Versailles" on June 28, 1919, but unofficially it ended when the fighting ceased seven months earlier. On November 11th, 1918, at 11:00am, there was a temporary halt known as an "armistice". This cease fire is commonly regarded as the end of the war. In 1938, November 11th was declared a legal holiday, originally intended to honor veterans of World War I then known as Armistice Day. In 1954, the holiday was changed to Veterans day to honor all veterans and has been ever since. All of our armed forces put themselves in grave danger and all should be remembered and honored!

http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp : Photo Credit