Here is American Minute with Bill Federer:
The 11th hour of the 11TH DAY OF THE 11TH MONTH of 1918, World War I ended.
Though the Armistice was signed at 5:00 AM on NOVEMBER 11, 1918, the fighting continued till 11:00 AM, killing nearly 11,000 more men.
In 1921, President Warren Harding had the remains of an unknown soldier killed in France buried in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery.
Inscribed on the Tomb are the words:
“Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.”
On October 4, 1924, at the dedication of the Monument to the American Expeditionary Forces in Washington, D.C., President Calvin Coolidge stated:
“They did not regard it as a national or personal opportunity for gain or fame or glory, but as a call to sacrifice for the support of humane principles and spiritual ideals…
If anyone doubts the depth and sincerity of the attachment of the American people to their institutions and Government, if anyone doubts the sacrifices which they have been willing to make in behalf of those institutions and for what they believe to be the welfare of other nations,
let them gaze upon this monument and other like memorials that have been reared in every quarter of our broad land.
Let them look upon the representative gatherings of our VETERANS, and let them remember that America has dedicated itself to the service of God and man.”
Armistice Day was changed to VETERANS DAY in 1954 to honor all who have served defending the United States.
In 1958, President Eisenhower placed soldiers in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from WWII and the Korean War.
In 1984, President Ronald Reagan placed a soldier from the Vietnam War in the tomb.
DNA test later identified him as pilot Michael Blassie, a graduate of St. Louis University High School, 1966, and the U.S. Air Force Academy, 1970.
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Image credit: Suresnes American Military Cemetery outside of Paris, France / Photo by John Biver.
