Veterans Day for reverence, remembrance

As their fellow Americans in cities and towns across the nation did Saturday, Alaskans observed another Veterans Day. Valley residents and veterans organizations gathered together, as has become the local tradition, for a ceremony at the Veterans Wall of Honor.

That Americans of all ages, nationalities and political affiliations stop what they're doing each year on Nov. 11 to honor vets highlights the significance of the day as a time to remember that we all share in a common debt of gratitude to this country's veterans.

Historically, the day marks the anniversary of the armistice signed in 1918 to end World War I. A year later, President Woodrow Wilson issued his Armistice Day proclamation, part of which set the tone for future observances of the day, according to the Web site www.patriotism.org:

&#8220To us in America,” Wilson wrote, &#8220the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nation.”

It wasn't until after World War II, when a whole new generation of veterans joined their World War I brethren, that the original meaning of the day evolved into a time to honor all who had fought in all American wars. In 1954, an act of Congress changed the name of Armistice Day to Veterans Day, and President Eisenhower called on all citizens to observe the day by remembering the sacrifice of all servicemen.

After the rush of the national election four days earlier, Veterans Day this year may have seemed almost an afterthought. But observing Veterans Day in the same week we shore up the cornerstone of democracy

by exercising the right to vote, could not be more appropriate.

On page B1 of this edition, Frontiersman columnist Tiffany Horvath, local wife of a serviceman deployed to Iraq, shares a simple, yet powerful, story of her husband filling out his absentee ballot last month before leaving for the war zone. It is a personal story that underscores a universal - and fundamental - message of Veterans Day.

The Valley has long been home to many veterans. Ongoing conflicts around the globe have added to their numbers, and could swell their ranks for years to come.

In these troubling times, remembering what veterans did for us is essential. For all that we have, and all the values we hold most dear, we are indebted to those who fought that these values might be preserved.