Today is Veterans Day, the day we honor, recognize and remember those who served our country, whether in wartime or in peace.
The day was originally called Armistice Day, with the first observation happening Nov. 11, 1919, which was the first anniversary of the end of World War I. The significance of the observation is noted by it being the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, which signaled the end of the war.
In 1954, President Eisenhower changed the name from Armistice Day to Veterans Day.
For a few years, the day was turned into a Monday holiday, but President Ford in 1975 returned the day to Nov. 11 in recognition of the day’s importance.
Unlike Memorial Day, Veterans Day honors all service people, living or dead.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The United States is hardly alone in this observation, considering World War I was a global war that was called “the war to end all wars.”
Great Britain, France, Australia and Canada have variations on the same theme and note the day sometime around the 11th of November.
In today’s Pine Bluff Commercial, there is a feature about George Mobbs, who went to college at what is now the University of Arkansas at Monticello. He rather fell into the idea of flying, learning how in a civilian training program. But from that inauspicious start, he ended up serving in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
“Mobbs was a member of the 57th Fighter Group and was assigned to support the British Eighth Army,” says the story. “He flew P-40s under the operational control of the Royal Air Force ‘chasing Germany and Rommel’s forces’ across the desert.”
Such are the people who stepped up, many without being asked, to take up arms and put their lives on the line for this country and for freedom across the globe.
And there are millions of them. According to the History Channel website, as of April of this year, there are 19 million people living in this country who have served in at least one war.
We suggest taking a moment or two today to consider them. First, as is done in many ceremonies, stop what you’re doing for a couple of minutes to honor them. And then reach out and tap one on the shoulder and thank them personally for their service and sacrifice. We shudder to think where America and the rest of the world would be without such heroes.