Public invited to attend on Nov. 11

The Orion Veterans Memorial Committee invites the public to join them in honoring those who have served in the United States armed forces during a ceremony on Veterans Day.

The program begins at 7 p.m. Nov. 11 at Kensington Church, 4640 S. Lapeer Rd., in Orion Township.

Masks will be required, along with social distancing, while in the facility, organizers said.

Veterans Day honors all of those who have served the country in war or peace – dead or alive – although it is intended to thank living veterans for their sacrifices, according to information from the U.S. Dept. of Defense.

Veterans Day was originally called Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I, which officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919.

However, the fighting ended about seven months before that when the Allies and Germany put into effect an armistice on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

For that reason, Nov. 11, 1918, was largely considered the end of “the war to end all wars” and dubbed Armistice Day.

In 1926, Congress officially recognized it as the end of the war, and in 1938, it became an official holiday, primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I.

But then World War II and the Korean War happened, so on June 1, 1954, at the urging of veterans service organizations, Congress amended the commemoration yet again by changing the word “armistice” to “veterans” so the day would honor American veterans of all wars. – J.N.