Today is Veterans Day.  We offer our thanks to those who have served to protect us.  We should do that every day, but especially today, we should make an extra effort.

You’ll note that I didn’t use an apostrophe in “Veterans Day”.  This is actually the correct spelling because it is a day of honoring all veterans.  The holiday belongs to all Americans.  Originally, this day was celebrated as Armistice Day, the end of World War 1.

U.S. Representative Ed Rees from Emporia, Kansas, presented a bill establishing the holiday through Congress. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, also from Kansas, signed the bill into law on May 26, 1954. It had been eight and a half years since Weeks held his first Armistice Day celebration for all veterans.

Congress amended the bill on June 1, 1954, replacing “Armistice” with “Veterans,” and it has been known as Veterans Day since.

The National Veterans Award was also created in 1954. Congressman Rees of Kansas received the first National Veterans Award in Birmingham, Alabama for his support offering legislation to make Veterans Day a federal holiday.

So today, let’s not argue about things.  Let’s look for the people in our community have served, and simply say “Thank you for your service”.