It’s Veterans Day

     Today is Veterans Day, a national holiday. Virtually all levels of government have the day off, banks and financial institutions are closed, and there’s no mail delivery but many school districts still have classes as usual.

    Veteran’s Day began as Armistice Day, marking the end of the fighting in World War 1 at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. While Presidential proclamations were issued for it starting in 1919, Armistice Day didn’t become a national holiday until 1938.

    After World War II, a movement began to broaden the meaning of the day, culminating in Congress changing Armistice Day to Veterans Day in 1954 to honor all those who served in the U-S military.

      Governor Pete Ricketts, in his Veterans Day message, says Nebraska is home to around 127,000 veterans who bravely served our country in every corner of the world and should be celebrated throughout the year, but especially today.

      Ricketts says he’s grateful to the family members of those veterans for the sacrifices they made to support their service members, and he encourages everyone to say thanks to the veterans in their communities and in their families for all they’ve done. 

      The governor has 4 public appearances scheduled for Veterans Day. At 7:30, he’s serving breakfast at an Omaha grocery store as part of an event to support veterans and the active duty military.

     After that, Ricketts is scheduled to deliver remarks at 3 events, the 10:00 dedication of the Holdrege Veterans Memorial, the 2:00 dedication at the Central Nebraska Veterans Home in Karney of a memorial, and at 7:00 in Omaha for the America’s Wall of Honor First Light Ceremony. 

       Nebraska U-S Senators Ben Sasse and Deb Fischer each issued statements of their own encouraging everyone to thank and celebrate veterans for all they’ve done to safeguard the American way of life. 

       Sasse says the hard work and grit of the men and women in our armed forces ought to be celebrated today and every day,” while Fischer says the “United States is the greatest country on earth because of their service and sacrifice.”