Veteran’s Day began on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, November, in 1918 when the Allies — France, Great Britain, Italy, the United States and others — signed an armistice with Germany and Austria-Hungary to stop all fighting in the Great War, World War I, until a final peace treaty could be negotiated and signed.

In October 1921, Congress voted to make Nov. 11, 1921 a legal federal holiday honoring all those who served in WWI. In Arlington National Cemetery on Nov. 11, 1921, a service was held dedicating the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, that none would forget the sacrifice made for our country by those who died in that war. The words: “Here rests in honored glory a comrade in arms known only to God” is a fitting tribute.

For 17 years many states proclaimed Nov. 11 a holiday, but in early 1938, Con-gress passed a bill making Armi-stice Day, Nov. 11, a legal federal holiday in perpetuity. On June 1, 1954, President Eisenhower signed legislation changing Armistice Day to Veteran’s Day so that all those who served in World War II and Korea would also be honored on Nov. 11. Except for a 10–year period, 1968-1978, when federal offices observed the holiday on the last Monday in October, Nov. 11 has been Veteran’s Day across the nation. And even during that ten years most states continued to honor veterans on the eleventh day of the eleventh month at 11 a.m.

That tradition continues this Tuesday with cemetery services at many locations. When the eleventh hour of Nov. 11 strikes, please take a moment to remember all our veterans who served our country to keep it free for us. Here is a brief prayer from Frederick W. Stewart of Denison University in Granville: “Holy God, we have seen the matchless courage of Jesus, who, seemingly alone, faced the impossible task of bringing Thy Kingdom to an evil world, believing that with Thee all things are possible.

Today across the ages His challenge comes to us in a troubled hour, bidding us follow Him. Lord, make us strong to do Thy will when we see it, and patient to wait Thy will where yet we cannot see. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.”

Probably not one of us likes all the results of the elections just concluded, but we know that the right to vote in what are generally honest elections sets our country apart from those nations where leadership is chosen by whoever has the most best guns. We thank God for that. May God bless you all, and especially our veterans this week.