Veterans Day was not always called by that name. Originally, it was Armistice Day, established to commemorate the end of World War I—then known as the Great War, the war that was supposed to end all wars (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs). After more than four years of conflict, the fighting ceased when the Allies and Germany signed an armistice agreement in a railway car in the Forest of Compiegne, France.
The signing took place early on the morning of November 11, 1918, but the ceasefire was set to take effect at 11:00 a.m.—the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month (“Armistice of 11 November 1918”). When that moment came, the guns along the Western Front finally fell silent. For the first time in years, soldiers heard not explosions, but silence (National Park Service).
President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first Armistice Day in 1919, calling for a moment of reflection with “solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service” (National Museum of American History). In 1938, Congress made it an official federal holiday, dedicated to honoring the veterans of World War I (“Armistice of 11 November 1918”).
But as the decades passed and new wars came—the Second World War, Korea, Vietnam—Americans recognized that the meaning of November 11 should extend to all veterans, not just those of one conflict. In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the act officially renaming it Veterans Day (Time Staff).
Today, when we pause at the eleventh hour on November 11, we honor more than a historic ceasefire. We honor every man and woman who has worn the uniform of our nation—those who stood watch in times of peace and those who faced battle in times of war (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs).
The silence that once fell across Europe in 1918 endures each year as a moment of gratitude—a reminder that freedom is never free, and that peace, once earned, must always be remembered (National Park Service).
This November 11, take a moment to pause—to thank a veteran, visit a memorial, or simply reflect on the courage and sacrifice of those who have served. A single day of remembrance cannot repay their service, but it can remind us all why their sacrifices endure.
Works Cited
“Armistice of 11 November 1918.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Oct. 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_of_11_November_1918.
“Armistice Day.” National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, https://americanhistory.si.edu/topics/world-war-i/pages/armistice-day.
“Armistice Day.” National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, https://www.nps.gov/articles/atthe11thhour.htm.
“History of Veterans Day.” U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 7 Nov. 2023, https://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp.
Time Staff. “The History of Veterans Day.” Time, 11 Nov. 2016, https://time.com/4555301/armistice-day-veterans-day/.