“The 11th hour of the 11TH DAY OF THE 11TH MONTH of 1918, World War I ended.
Though the Armistice was signed at 5:00 AM, fighting continued till 11:00 AM, killing nearly 11,000 more men.
In 1921, President Warren Harding had the remains of an unknown soldier killed in France buried in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery.
Inscribed on the Tomb are the words: ”Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.”
Armistice Day was changed to Veterans Day in 1954 to honor all U.S. Veterans. In 1958, President Eisenhower placed soldiers in the tomb from WWII and the Korean War.
In 1984, President Ronald Reagan placed a soldier from the Vietnam War in the tomb.
DNA test later identified him as pilot Michael Blassie, a graduate of St. Louis University Highschool, 1966 and the U.S. Air Force Academy, 1970, whose A-37B Dragonfly was shot down near An Loc, South Vietnam.
In 1998, Michael Blassie was reburied at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri.
On NOVEMBER 11, 1921, President Harding stated: ”On the threshold of eternity, many a soldier, I can well believe, wondered how his ebbing blood would color the stream of human life, flowing on after his sacrifice…
I can sense the prayers of our people… Let me join in that prayer.
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come…”
Charles Michael Province, U.S. Army, wrote the poem:
It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.
It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.
It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.
It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.
William J. Federer is a nationally known speaker, best-selling author, and president of Amerisearch, Inc., a publishing company dedicated to researching America’s noble heritage.
To learn more about the author please visit William Federer
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