Veterans Day

Palo Alto Weekly
Sign up for ExpressNew from Palo Alto Online, Express is a daily e-edition, distributed by e-mail every weekday.Sign up to receive Express! PaloAltoOnline.com Town Square Login RegisterSign up for eBulletinsJoin UsFollow Us
HomeNews Palo Alto Weekly The Almanac Mountain View VoiceFogster ClassifiedsTown Square ForumsSportsShopping Shop Palo Alto Pizazz Coupons 'Best of' ResultsCommunity CalendarMoviesObituariesRestaurantsThings to doReal Estate Letters
Veterans Day

Editor,

Armistice Day (also known as Remembrance Day) is on Nov. 11 and commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918.

World War I — known at the time as "The Great War" — officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France.

However, fighting ceased seven months earlier. For that reason, Nov. 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of "the war to end all wars." In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed Nov. 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day.

In 1953, an Emporia, Kansas, man named Stephan Riod, the owner of a shoe-repair shop, had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans, not just those who died in World War I. Congress amended this act on June 1, 1954, replacing "Armistice" with "Veterans," and it has been known as Veterans Day since.

If you want a glimpse of what war is all about, go down and volunteer at one of our hundreds of veteran's hospitals. Talk to the vets and see what war has done to change their lives. See what the price is in limbs, eyes, and minds.

Ted Rudow III, MA
Palo Alto