This morning is a good opportunity to honor all of our men and women in the military by getting out to support the annual Veterans Day parade being held in St. Cloud.

While the actual federal holiday was Thursday, attending the 10 a.m. parade and the ceremonies that are on tap afterward is an opportunity for the entire family – and especially our children and teens – to show our veterans, the men and women currently in uniform and any prisoners of war, that we deeply appreciate the sacrifices they have made and are making everyday to keep our country free. Most of us can only imagine what those sacrifices are like.

Attending the events in St. Cloud today also would be an opportunity to thank the families of our veterans and active duty personnel for their sacrifices and for heroic battles of their own at home. It is not easy watching and waiting while a loved one – a father, brother, son, sister, daughter or other close relative – is in harms way, whether that is in Afghanistan or some other front in the war against terrorism.

Even if we disagree with any current military operation now being conducted by U.S. armed forces, we can still get out and show our support for the military, which is only doing the bidding of our political leaders. We all have family members or relatives who have served in the military or who are now serving, so we all should show our support in some way, if we have the opportunity.

Originally called Armistice Day, Veterans Day commemorates the ending of hostilities in the “Great War” (World War I) when an “unknown soldier” was buried in both England and France. Those ceremonies took place on Nov. 11, 1918, at 11 a.m., hence the date of the holiday.

In the United States, Nov. 11 officially became known as Armistice Day through an act of Congress in 1926. It wasn’t until 12 years later that Armistice Day became a national holiday. Unfortunately, World War I turned out not to be the “war that ended all wars,” with the start of World War II.

In the late 1940s, legislation was introduced to change the name of Armistice Day to Veterans Day in order to honor all veterans who had served the United States in all wars. And then, in 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill proclaiming Nov. 11 as Veterans Day.

Congress passed legislation in 1968 to move Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October but, due to public demand, Congress in 1978 reversed itself and returned the holiday to its traditional Nov. 11 date.