It was the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month that the Armistice was signed that ended World War I. Originally designated Armistice Day on November 11, 1919 to honor those who served in World War I, this day was changed by Congress in 1954 to Veterans Day, to honor all of those that have served in America's Wars. There have been a lot of military conflicts in the short history of the United States: The American Revolution, War of 1812, Mexican War, Civil War, Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, The Persian Gulf War, Afghanistan War and the Iraq War.
While we can debate the rightness or the wrongness of war, we cannot turn our backs on those who serve and give so much to keep America free. Today we honor those that served and every day we give thanks to not only those that serve but to their families who give so much as well.
And then his mother straightened up, with a smile to hide a tear. She said, "We're both so proud of you, we'll feel lost without you here." Someday, you'll know what this moment means, when your boy shakes your hand, and you watch him as he walks away, the day he becomes a man. ~~Excerpt from a poem "Who becomes a Veteran", by John Mitchum.
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*Citation: The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to John Guess, Jr., Sergeant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company H, 364th Infantry Regiment, 91st Division, A.E.F., near Eclisfontaine, France, September 28, 1918. Assisted by another sergeant, and leading a combat group across an open valley under constant hostile fire, Sergeant Guess completed the capture of four machine-gun nests and three prisoners. He was seriously wounded in the encounter and died soon afterwards. General Orders No. 21, War Department, 1919, Born: at El Monte, California, Home Town: El Monte, California
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