Veterans Day 2025

Today we celebrate Veterans Day. On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 the guns fell quietly silent over the battlefields of Europe. This was my Grandfather’s War. He called it the War to End All Wars. More than 117,500 American soldiers, sailors and Marines died as a direct result of the conflict and over 204,000 were wounded. The United States Congress adopted a resolution on June 4, 1926, requesting that the President issue annual proclamations calling for the observance of November 11 with appropriate ceremonies. In 1938 Congress made November 11 in each year a legal federal holiday: “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day’”.

In 1945, World War II veteran Raymond Weeks had the idea of a national holiday that would honor all war veterans, living and dead, to be celebrated on Armistice Day. Weeks led a delegation to Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, who supported the idea of National Veterans Day. Weeks led the first national celebration in 1947 in Alabama and annually until his death in 1985. Elizabeth Dole who prepared the briefing for President Reagan, determined Weeks as the “Father of Veterans Day”.

From 1971-1978 Veterans Day was celebrated on the Monday nearest November 11^th, but Veterans groups objected. November 11^th was a ‘sacred’ holiday for World War I Veterans and by 1978 they managed to convince the Congress to move Veterans Day back to November 11^th, It has remained there ever since. Today Veterans Day recognizes the contributions of all veterans from all of our wars.

Although the United States has formally declared war only five times and these declarations cover a total of 11 separate instances against specific nations, there are currently 187 non-colonial military conflicts the US was engaged in, some of which are ongoing. The US military has been or is engaged in 224 military conflicts. Since 1776, over 40 million Americans have served in the military across various conflicts and peacetime periods. This includes service in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the War with Mexico, the Civil War, the “Indian” Wars, the Spanish-American War, the two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and other recent ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

We celebrate our Veterans in many ways. Cities and towns will conduct parades in honor of their veterans. Television and radio stations will interview their local vets and have them tell their stories. Restaurants and stores will offer free dinners or reduced prices for veterans, all in an attempt to honor them for their service. The frequent refrain of “thank you for your service” will be heard everywhere. VFW and American Legion halls will be filled with veterans and their families honoring their service. Small groups of vets will sit at bars and tables across the country and reminisce. Toasts will be made to fallen comrades and in many cases, tears will be shed. School children will hear addresses from veterans and learn about these veterans’ pride in their service to the nation.

But unfortunately, what happens after November 11^th is perhaps more important. After all of the uplifting, the shared pride of service, the patriotic displays, will we fall back into a lack of appreciation for our veterans? Will those “thanks for your service” abruptly be put back on the shelf until next year?

Remember this famous quote:  “A veteran – whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve – is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to the ‘United States of America’, for an amount of ‘up to and including my life.’” Veterans put their very life on the line to guarantee that we can rest peacefully at night, every night. Daily they stand watch at home and in faraway places ensuring that we can live without fear. During wartime they protect us with their very lives and in peacetime they train for the unthinkable.

Fortunately, the sons and daughters of our Vietnam veterans have received the honor that they deserve when they have returned from their conflicts. We Vietnam Veterans made sure that they would never be treated the way that we were when we returned from Southeast Asia. We’ve accomplished our mission – service, sacrifice and duty to our country is to be honored and not denigrated or despised by those that have been sent by our political leaders and the citizens of our nation to engage in combat.

To all of our veterans:

Thank you for your service! (A nice return compliment to those who wish us well is “Americans like you were worth every bit of it!)

To all my fellow Vietnam brothers and sisters – “Welcome Home – We Made It!” (the welcome we never got!)

Regards, “Hardcharger”

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Again, please take a look at all of my books that I have listed. They can be purchased from Amazon.com with the click of a button directly from the website. Until Friday, Have a good one.

The Advisor Series:

• “The Advisor, Kien Bing, South Vietnam, 1969-1970. A Novel” (Available on Amazon ASIN: B09L4X5NQ3)
• “The Province Senior Intelligence Advisor, Kien Song Province 1970-1971; A Novel” (Available on Amazon ASIN: B0BHL2XCX5)
• “The Hardchargers,” Vietnam 1972-1973; A Novel” (Available on Amazon ASIN: B0C7SPR1JY)
• “The Tuscarora Trail” (Available on Amazon ASIN: B0D3QY2GM6)

Check out my website for other books that I’ve written or edited.

Website: ptaylorvietnamadvisor.com