I Will Always Remember

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs explains that what Americans have come to know as Veterans Day was first observed in the United States in 1921, on the world’s fourth “Armistice Day.”

This date in history, November 11, 1918, was known as Armistice Day because it marked the official end of World War I – the moment when “the war to end all wars” finally came to a close on “the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.”

Four years later, as part of that annual Armistice Day observance, an unknown American World War I soldier was returned from a military graveyard in France and given his final resting place of honor in Arlington National Cemetery on November 11, 1921. The official website of Arlington National Cemetery states that the purpose of the legislation initiating our nation’s 1921 Armistice Day ceremony was “to bring home the body of an unknown American warrior who in himself represents no section, creed, or race in the late war and who typifies, moreover, the soul of America and the supreme sacrifice of her heroic dead.”

Sadly, World War I was not the end of all wars, and in Birmingham, Alabama, on November 11, 1947, the first “National Veterans Day” observance was organized by a recent veteran of World War II, Raymond Weeks. This Alabama celebration, which included a parade and other events, inspired other towns and states to organize similar Veterans Day observances.

Eventually, these events prompted U.S. Representative Edward Rees (Kansas-R) to propose legislation to change the name of Armistice Day to Veterans Day. Finally, in 1954, Congress passed this legislation, and President Eisenhower signed the bill that ensured the legal observation of November 11 as Veterans Day.

So, this year, on Veterans Day, November 11, 2025, our nation will once again honor all American men and women who have served in any branch of our military. In city parks, churches, schools, military cemeteries, and government buildings all across our land, Americans will pay tribute to our military members and their families on this day.

In my own small town, it is an ongoing tradition for our high school students to plan and present the annual Veterans Day Program, with songs, videos, and short speeches presented in honor of soldiers who have served throughout our nation’s history. Weeks in advance, the students invite all living veterans and family members, community members, local dignitaries, and their classmates of all ages to join them in this celebration. It never fails to be one of our community’s most moving and impactful days of the entire year.

As I thought about this program and the honor and respect with which these teenagers observe Veterans Day, I also recalled childhood memories of this historical day.

Growing up, I never really understood the importance of this day or the sacrifice that service members and their family members make for each of us – until someone I knew died in the Vietnam War. Well … I only knew this young man by name. I probably would have been hard-pressed to recognize him on sight.

But I knew his father very well.

He was the owner of our local dry-cleaning shop, and he delivered my father’s cleaned and pressed suits and shirts to our home each week. And he always brought candy and took the time to visit with my sister and me. To be honest, he was one of the few adults who truly took the time to minister to us in his daily work routine. That is probably why I can still remember the joy of seeing his laundry truck coming down our road.

Then, one week, he did not show up; someone else delivered our laundry, someone too busy to visit us or bring us candy. We both hoped our friend would return soon, but he did not.

In fact, it was several weeks before we saw this precious man again, and when he returned to his delivery route, he was not the same, not at all.

Gone were his contagious smile and his joyous visits. Yes, he remembered to bring us candy, but that was not what we loved most about his weekly visit. And sadly, what we missed the most during his absence was still not present during his weekly visits.

Our friend was quiet and solemn – and obviously sad.

So, we eventually asked our mother about this noticeable difference in our friend. She grew quiet and paused a good while before she answered, “Oh, girls, I thought you knew. His son died over in Vietnam.”

That was the moment when I first realized what veterans and their families offer to this country when someone enlists in military service. It was also the moment when I first learned about the grief of losing a child, a sorrow that I now fully understand after losing our own son to leukemia.

But here’s the difference in our losses: My son’s death was not preventable; his son’s was. As an American soldier, his only son laid down his young life for us all, and according to John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

So, as I sit here pondering this childhood memory, I am also solemnly reminded of all the men and women who have served and continue to serve in our nation’s military. The truth is, I will never meet or even read about most of them. But they are still an integral part of my life because they were and are willing to do whatever it takes to ensure my safety and freedom.

I learned about that sacrifice firsthand when my husband served in the U.S. Air Force for almost a decade. His first priority back then was his service to our country, and my sons and I understood what that priority could (and often did) involve.

So, on this Veterans Day, November 11, 2025, I salute my husband and all United States veterans for their service – and for their willingness to sacrifice their time, their talents, and possibly their lives for their fellow Americans.

But I cannot forget a small-town boy from Houston, Mississippi, who left home to serve his country and never returned. And I will always remember his father, a childhood friend who gave his greatest treasure in service to me and you.

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