Thank a Vet Today on Veterans Day

UNDATED - Today (Friday) is Veterans Day.  A day set aside to honor all the men and women who have served our country.

November 11th was chosen as the date to recognize our vets way back in 1919. That's because the fighting ended in World War I on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.  The treaty of Versailles, ending "The Great War", was signed in June of 1919.  President Woodrow Wilson was the first to proclaim November 11th as Armistice Day.

The original concept was for a day of parades, and a brief suspension of business at 11:00 a.m.  Congress made November 11th a legal holiday in 1938.  And in 1954 the holiday was renamed Veterans Day to honor all veterans of all wars.

For a few years Veterans Day was actually moved to a different date.  The Uniform Holiday Bill was signed in 1968 to ensure three-day weekends for four national holidays: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day.  The first Veterans Day under the new law was on October 25, 1971.  But in 1975 President Ford signed a law returning Veterans Day to it's original date of November 11th, regardless of which day of the week it falls on.