Bowfin News | November 10, 2024

As we go about our busy lives tomorrow, let’s not forget to take a moment to celebrate the service of all U.S. military veterans past and present.

Originally known as Armistice Day. In 1918, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, was declared between the Allied nations and Germany in World War I, then known as “the Great War.” Commemorated in many countries as Armistice Day the following year, November 11th became a federal holiday in the United States in 1938. In the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War, Armistice Day became legally known as Veterans Day dedicated to American veterans of all wars. There are an estimated 20 million living Veterans today, with approximately 100 thousand in Hawaii.

Veterans Day is a time to honor not just those who have fought for us in battle, but all of the outstanding men and women who served in our nation’s armed forces since our founding 245 years ago.

Not all veterans have seen war, but a common bond that they all share is the oath, to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, an oath that expressed their willingness to die defending this great nation and our way of life.

Every individual who has ever served in the U.S. military has taken an oath to “Support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic… So help me God.” But with this oath, there was no expiration date. And many veterans take this oath as seriously today as the day they enlisted (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 or 75 years ago), an oath that everyone of them will keep, till their last breath.

Perhaps, most significant in preserving our way of life and defending freedom, are the battles that America does not have to fight.

I believe President Lincoln said it best, “Honor to the Soldier, and Sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country’s cause. Honor also to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field, and serves, as he best can, the same cause —honor to him, only less than to him, who braves, for the common good, the storms of heaven and the storms of battle.”

We salute all our veterans who have made our great country possible.

As we commemorate those that served, let us be mindful of the 81,248 Americans who remain missing from WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf Wars, and other conflicts.

God bless you, God bless Hawai’i, and God bless America!