Good Morning

Today we are here to celebrate, honor and to commemorate the dead and the living on this the 104th commemoration of Veterans Day. Veterans day was first established by President Woodrow Wilson on November 11, 1919 as Armistices Day in honor of the first anniversary of the end of World War One, which had officially ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.

In 1954, President Dwight D Eisenhower officially change the name of the holiday from Armistices Day to Veterans Day.
We also have another day where we celebrate our nations heroes that being Memorial Day. The difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day is that Memorial Day is a time to reflect on the lives of the men and women of this country who were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice on the battlefield to ensure our country’s freedom.

To be clear Memorial day is to honor those that have died, whereas Veterans Day is to honor the 19 million men and women who have honorably served and are serving now.

What makes this day so important is that the world has not learned the lessons of the past. World War One was to be the war to end all wars. Yet, in a little over one hundred years we have had World War ll, Korea, Vietnam, The Persian Gulf War, The War on Terrorism, Operation Iraq Freedom and Afghanistan. We have lost over half a million men and women along with millions wounded. Today, we are looking at a tinder box with wars in Ukraine and Israel, plus the saber rattling and strategic challenges from Iran, Russia, North Korea and China. That is why it is so important to honor and pray for those that are serving all over the planet so that we may be safe and that the best and the brightest continue to serve!
it is imperative that we treat our soldiers with respect and gratitude.

It was George Washington who said; “ The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war no matter how justified shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation” To all the Veterans here today I sincerely thank you for your service and your sacrifice.
I share the pride you feel in being able to say you have served in the greatest military in the world.

Thank you all for choosing to honor veterans today and show your support of our heroes past and present.

May God bless our veterans.
May God bless all who serve in harms way.
And may God continue to Bless America.