Veterans Day - Armistice Day - Remembrance Day - Poppy Day (11.11.11.1918)
Veterans Day nowadays celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans, tens of millions of servicemen and servicewomen altogether. During WWII alone there were 17,867,000 Americans volunteering or drafted. Veterans Day originally was known as Armistice Day that is a federal holiday observed every year on November 11. The origin of this day goes back to WWI to mark the armistice signed between the Allies and Germany at Compiègne, France early in the morning for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front which took effect at the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918. The armistice expired after a period of 36 days and had to be extended several times until a formal peace agreement was reached at the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. The day is observed in several countries – mostly as Remembrance Day – and is a national holiday in former Allied countries.
In WW I the total number of mobilized forces was over 65 million while the total number of military and civilian casualties was around 40 million. There were 20 million deaths and 21 million wounded. The total number of deaths includes 9.7 million military personnel and about 10 million civilians.
Lest we forget
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