It was on the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month in 1918 when WWI ended.  Though the cease fire (armistice) was signed at 5am in the morning, it specified that 11 am would be the hour that the actual fighting would stop.  Tragically, in the intervening 6 hours of fighting, an additional 11,000 more were killed.

In 1921, President Warren Harding had the remains of an unknown soldier who was killed in France brought to Arlington Cemetery and buried in what’s known as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  Inscribed on the tomb are these words: “Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.” 

In 1926, President Coolidge began issuing proclamations honoring veterans every year and in 1938, the day became a legal holiday.  In 1954, the name Armistice Day was changed to Veterans Day to honor all soldiers of all American wars.

4 million Americans served in WWI, 16 million in WWII, nearly 7 million served in the Korean War, nearly 9 million served in the Vietnam War and from the first Gulf War to the present, 7.4 million men and women serve.

While Veterans Day honors living soldiers, Memorial Day honors those who died while serving.  

This broadcast is Crosstalk’s way of giving thanks as the phone lines were opened allowing listeners across the nation to honor a veteran on the broadcast.