Veteran’s Day

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” -John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Veterans Day is the culmination of special events which honor those men and women who have served, and are serving, our nation in the military. Although November 11^th is the day that the holiday is observed, many local and national events proceed the actual day.

On Friday, planes from Wings Over Miami flew over the first-ever City of Miami veteran’s parade, an event which included a long overdue salute to the Viet Nam veteran’s. Throughout the nation, our veterans are remembered with wreaths, flags, events and parades.

This holiday is similarly celebrated world-wide as this day also serves to acknowledge the end of World War 1. The formal end to WW1 was on the 11^th month, 11^th day and 11^th hour of 1918.

On November 11, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first celebration of Armistice Day, in honor of the WW1 veterans.

In June 1926, Congress requested that President Coolidge create the holiday permanently. On May 13, 1938, a Congressional act set the date and day onto our national calendars.  It wasn’t until 1945 that the holiday evolved from being recognition of WW1 veterans to the current holiday during which we express our gratitude to the Armed Forces and their families without regard to which years they served our nation.