Thank A Vet, Not Just Today, Every Day

Today we honor our Veterans with a National Holiday, but today is not Veterans Day. Veterans day is always on the 11th day of the 11th month of our Western calendar. A day that is significant in Western history as the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice agreement in 1918 which ended the war between the Allies and Germany in 1918, effectively ending World War I, one of the most devastating wars mankind has ever seen.

Veteran’s day was originally called Armistice Day and here is a great quote from Ronald Reagan about Veteran’s Day as he was honoring Raymond Weeks, a Veteran who had organized the first ever Veteran’s Day parade in 1947 – and is widely considered having coined the phrase.

…I may be one of the few people in this room who remembers when Veterans Day was called Armistice Day, commemorating the armistice that ended the First World War on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year in 1918. And I might add, I not only remember when it was called that day, I guess we may be the only ones that were on the streets in the wild celebration of the first and actual Armistice Day when it was signed.

Armistice Day honored those who gave their lives in “the war to end all wars”— a day of hope that they had not given their lives in vain. But within a few years, and in spite of an impressive effort on the part of the Western democracies to limit arms and to outlaw war, aggressors rearmed and war came again. Ironically, Armistice Day was made a legal holiday in the United States in 1938, just 1 year before a second and more terrible conflagration swept across Europe.

As is tradition, no matter what day of the week Veteran’s Day actually falls on, celebrations, National Holiday’s and the inevitable sales fliers are almost always focused on the nearest weekend.

Not Just Today, Every Day

While Veterans of all services are honored Nationally on this day, we are fortunate to live in a nation where our Vets are honored daily by the majority of Americans.

But it is too easy to forget the time, effort, and sacrifice that many Vets put in to our country and to protecting the freedoms. Smarter men then I have said it best… Freedom is not Free. And America’s Veterans know that better then most.

I ran across this poem the other day that is a great reminder…

This week, to honor our Veterans, ModernJeeper is featuring a new Veteran Jeeper or Veteran’s Off-Road Focused organization each day.

We hope you can join us in honoring these Vets. If you have a Veteran Jeeper you would like to honor, let us know, we will continue to share great Veteran Jeeper Stories throughout the year.

Thank A Vet, not just Today, but Every Day.

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