This week on 13WMAZ Morning, we are sending out a ‘Salute to Service’ for all our military and veterans.
Veterans Day is this Sunday and it’s a special one because it’s the 100th anniversary of the Armistice, or peach agreement during World War I.
Reporter Suzanne Lawler spoke to historian Bill Head, who brought everything to life when it comes to how we honor veterans today.
“We want to honor all of them. The fact that we began back in the Armistice and we've continued it even though the name has changed -- this is even more significant now than it's ever been,” he said.
Head is the Robins AFB historian.
“The thing you need to remember is armistice is [a] cease fire,” he said.
But soldiers in WWI didn’t have cell phones or texts in the field, so the powers that be needed a way to communicate that every shoulder should put down their guns at the same time. That’s where the eleventh day at the eleventh hour came into play.
“All of the troops… they were handing stuff out to them letting them know that on this day it was going to be over and then the question was [if] they would stop shooting and the irony of it was yes they did,” Head explained.
The world rejoiced and for a while, we celebrated Armistice Day.
“After World War II in the 1940s, there were a number of people and a number of states and Alabama was big on having a Veterans Day to commemorate all the veterans from all the wars,” Head said. "That laid on the side for a while but finally President Eisenhower in 1954 was able to get a bill passed that made Veterans day an official holiday. It was on the same day as the Armistice day in World War I."
It all dates back to 1918 and now we recognize all the accomplishments of men and women throughout time.
There is also a difference between Veterans day and Memorial Day. Veterans Day honors all veterans, and Memorial Day honors men and women that have served the country and died.