Remember what veterans have done for us

Today is the 11th day of the 11th month. At the 11th hour of this day in 1918, the armistice that ended World War I -- known then as "the war to end all wars" -- was signed. The guns that had devastated Europe for more than four horrific years fell silent, and an exhausted world began to turn to the difficult work of peacetime reconstruction.

So too did American veterans of the Great War return to this country to pick up their lives where they had left off. Within a few years, our government had established Armistice Day as a holiday, which later was changed to Veterans Day, honoring veterans of all our wars for their sacrifices on behalf of all our freedoms. Although today is the actual anniversary of the armistice, Monday is the official, legal holiday.

One way you can honor America and our veterans is by displaying the full-page American flag that is in today's newspaper.

Throughout the region, ceremonies and parades are being held and speeches are being made to commemorate Veterans Day. Some events were held Friday and Saturday, a few are being held today and still others will be Monday. We hope that as many as can -- especially young people -- will attend these solemn observances and reflect on how so many have sacrificed so much for our American way of life. We can never really thank our veterans sufficiently.

Now that we are again engaged in hostilities in distant foreign lands, we once again have occasion anew to cherish and honor the service of our men and women in arms. May it always be so.