On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month peace was finally reached.
On November 11, 1918 World War I came to an end with the signing of an armistice.
The "war to end all wars" was at an end.

Veteran's Day commemorates the armistice that ended World War I and honors those who fought. It is known as Remembrance Day in Canada and was formerly known as Armistice Day in the United States.

Armistice Day was made a legal holiday in the United States in 1938, twenty years after the end of World War I. Originally this day honored veterans of World War I but with World War II and the Korean War the need to honor all veterans was apparent. In 1954, the 83rd Congress amended the Act of 1938 and Armistice Day became known as Veteran's Day. On June 1, 1954, November 11th was established as the official observance of Veteran's Day.

In some European countries this day is still known as Armistice Day and still commemorates the signing of the armistice that ended World War I.

During World War II the trenches could be seen across fields of brilliant poppies. Often wreaths of poppies are used as gravesite decorations on Veteran's Day.

Federal and most state employees get the day off from work. If the date falls on the weekend the nearest weekday is observed as the holiday. (For example, if it falls on Saturday the holiday would be on Friday.)

Story of the Unknown Soldier

Armistice Day was observed all over the United States by veteran's parades, public services both religious and secular, with two minutes of silence to honor the dead.  In 1920, the British Unknown Soldier was buried in Westminster Abbey, the burial place of kings and queens; that same year a French Unknown Soldier was interred at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, where a perpetual flame burns. In 1921, the American Unknown Soldier, symbolizing all the unknown dead, was chosen in an unusual way.  Six soldiers of the American Army of Occupation in Germany were selected from different sectors to act as pallbearers.  They met at Chalons-sur-Marne, and were interviewed by General Rogers.  Next day, Sergeant Edward F. Younger of the 59th Infantry was asked to make a choice among four caskets, with unidentified bodies disinterred from American cemeteries at Bony, Belleau Wood, Romagne, and Thiaucourt. When the sergeant was ready to perform his solemn duty, he received a bouquet of white roses, with instructions to proceed into the City Hall at Chalons, where the four caskets stood.  Sergeant Younger realized fully the grave importance of his action; and after bowing his head, he walked around the coffins three times.  On the fourth round, he seemed involuntarily drawn to the second one.  Reverently, he laid the roses on it, saluted and reported to his commanding officer that he had accomplished his mission. The body of the Unknown Soldier was brought home on the cruiser, Olympia, reaching Washington, D.C., on November 9, 1921.  For three days thousands of people passed by as the body lay in state in the rotunda of the Capitol. For this important Armistice Day in 1921, President Harding requested that flags be flown from sunrise to sunset at half mast, and that all Americans pay silent tribute as the casket was lowered into the tomb at 11 A.M. on November 11, 1921. There were elaborate ceremonies.  High army, navy, and other service personnel, along with diplomats, who had followed the caisson to Arlington, heard the President's address.  Many wreaths came from all over our country, and from abroad, these were placed on the plain white marble tomb, on which is these words:

Here rests in honored glory

An American Soldier Known but to God. 

The symbol of the Day of Remembrance is the Poppy flower, a red petalled flower that grows abundantly in the fields of Flanders, in Western Belgium, where most of the fighting took place during World War I. On November 11, 1918 at 11 a. m. the last shot of this war was fired and peace declared. The Red Poppies that grow in full bloom above the dead in the fields of Flanders, where the brave soldiers sacrificed their blood and life for their own countries, seem to be symbolic of the belief that the blood of heroes never dies.

In Flanders' field the
poppies blow
Between the crosses,
row on row
That mark our place;
and in the sky
The larks, still bravely
singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the
guns below.

We are the dead. Short
days ago
We lived, felt dawn,
saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved,
and now we lie in
Flanders Fields.

Take up quarrel
with the foe;
To you from failing
hands we throw
The torch; be yours to
hold high,
If ye break faith with us
Who die
We shall not sleep,
though poppies
grow
In Flanders Field.

 The Poppy was adopted as the symbol of remembrance because it was so widespread on the sites of the battlefields of Europe after the First World War : the seeds of the common Field Poppy (Papaver rhoeas) germinate best in newly-cultivated soil, which is why it was such a common weed of cornfields until the widespread use of selective weedkillers relegated it to a wayside flower. The soil disturbances caused by trench-digging and shellfire produced ideal conditions for poppies to grow, and they appeared in vast numbers bringing a delicate beauty to areas which had seen such terrible scenes only a short while before.

Sample Poppy Proclamation

WHEREAS, America is the land of freedom, preserved and protected willingly and freely by citizen soldiers;

WHEREAS, Millions who have answered the call to arms have died on the field of battle;

WHEREAS, A nation at peace must be reminded of the price of war and the debt owed to those who have died in war;

WHEREAS, The red poppy has been designated as a symbol of sacrifice of lives in all wars; and

WHEREAS, The American Legion Auxiliary has pledged to remind America annually of this debt through the distribution of the memorial flower;

THEREFORE, I, (full name) (title) of the (city, town, county, state) do hereby proclaim this (date)th day of (month), (year), as POPPY DAY and ask that all citizens pay tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom by wearing the Memorial Poppy on this day.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set may hand and caused to be affixed the official seal of (city, town, county, state) this (date)th day of (month), (year).

They shall grow not old, as we that are left, grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn,
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will REMEMBER them........

 Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)

Veterans Administration Veterans Day site

Veteran’s Day Resource Guide – awesome site!

Arlington National Cemetery

National Cemetery Association

Disabled American Veterans