On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, World War One ended.
Though the “cease-fire,” called “Armistice,” was signed at 5:00am in the morning, it specified that 11:00am would be the time the actual fighting would cease.
Tragically, in the intervening six hours of fighting, an additional 11,000 more were killed.
Following World War One -- “the war to end all wars” -- President Warren Harding, in 1921, had the remains of an unknown soldier killed in France brought to Arlington Cemetery to be buried in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Inscribed on the Tomb are the words: "Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God."
On October 4, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge stated at the dedication of the Monument to the American Expeditionary Forces:
"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 sacrifices which they have been willing to make in behalf of … 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."
In 1926, President Coolidge began issuing proclamations honoring veterans every year, and in 1938 the day became a legal holiday.
In 1954, the name “Armistice Day” was changed to “Veterans Day” to honor all soldiers of all American wars. Four million Americans served in World War One. Sixteen million served in World War Two.
Nearly seven million served in the Korean War. Nearly nine million served in the Vietnam War.
From the First Gulf War till the present, 7.4 million men and women served.
While Veterans Day honored the living soldiers, Memorial Day honored those who died while serving.
General Douglas MacArthur told West Point cadets, May 1962:
In battle and in the face of danger and death, he discloses those Divine attributes which his Maker gave when He created man in His own image ...
No physical courage and no brute instinct can take the place of Divine help which alone can sustain him.
However horrible the incidents of war may be, the soldier who is called upon to offer and to give his life for his country is the noblest development of mankind."
In 1958, President Eisenhower placed a soldier in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War Two, and another soldier from the Korean War.
In 1968, Lyndon Johnson signed The Uniform Holiday Bill which moved Veterans Day to Monday to create a three day weekend for federal employees.
In 1984, President Ronald Reagan placed a soldier from the Vietnam War in the Tomb of the Unknown.
DNA test later identified the body as that of pilot Michael Blassie, who was flying an A-37B Dragonfly when he was shot down near An Loc, South Vietnam.
DNA test later identified the body as that of pilot Michael Blassie, who was flying an A-37B Dragonfly when he was shot down near An Loc, South Vietnam.
In 1998, the body of Michael Blassie was reburied at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.
He was a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970, and before that, a graduate of St. Louis University High School in 1966, the same High School that the author of this article graduated from ten years after him.
On Veterans Day, November 11, 1921, President Warren G. Harding stated:
Standing today on hallowed ground ... it is fitting to say that his sacrifice, and that of the millions dead, shall not be in vain ...
I can sense the prayers of our people, of all peoples, that this Armistice Day shall mark the beginning of a new and lasting era of peace on earth, good will among men.
Who has given us freedom of religion.
It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.
It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.
It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.”
The American Legion is the nation’s largest wartime veterans service organization. It was formed in 1919 with the help of four chaplains:
Baptist Chaplain John Inzer spoke at The American Legion’s founding meeting in St. Louis in 1919:
The Preamble to the American Legion Constitution begins “For God and Country.”
In battle, they learned a great truth-that there are no atheists in the foxholes. They know that in time of test and trial, we instinctively turn to God for new courage and peace of mind. All the history of America bears witness to this truth.
Out of faith in God, and through faith in themselves as His children, our forefathers designed and built this Republic ..."
Thus Washington gained strength to lead to independence a nation dedicated to the belief that each of us is divinely endowed with indestructible rights.
Eisenhower stated:
"We have begun in our grasp of that basis of understanding, which is that all free government is firmly founded in a deeply felt religious faith. I think my little message this morning is merely this:
I have the profound belief that if we remind ourselves once in awhile of this simple basic truth that our forefathers in 1776 understood so well, we can hold up our heads and be certain that we in our time are going to be able to preserve the essentials, to preserve as a free government and pass it on, in our turn, as sound, as strong, as good as ever.
That, it seems to me, is the prayer that all of us have today."
--
American Minute is a registered trademark of William J. Federer. Permission granted to forward, reprint, or duplicate.
Thanks Dr. Federer!
It’s time to bring civics back to school instead of woke rubbish! It’s also time to bring the Bible back to class! The Holy Book that teaches us how to respect our fellow man.
Inspiring!
THANK YOU!
MY PRAYER IS THAT TRUTH SEEKING YOUNG PEOPLE WILL FIND THIS WEB SITE AND USE IT DAILY TO OFF SET THE LIES THAT THEIR SCHOOL TEACHERS ARE TEACHING THEM.
WHAT A GIFT YOU ARE TO OUR CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC.
AGAIN – THANK YOU.
SHALOM
-JANET