Armistice: Veteran's Day Remembers the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month - 1918

The Armistice, which took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, marked the end of World War I, the "war to end all wars." Veteran's Day--before it became a long weekend--was known as Armistice Day. and was always observed November 11.

This Saturday, November 11, will you be standing at 11 am, facing East toward France, in memory of fallen Americans, as our parents and grandparents did? It is a tradition that should not be forgotten. World War I cost thousands of American lives, young men willing to die because they knew that the cost of freedom is never free.

Pictured above is the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, established on October 14, 1918 in an area captured by the US 32nd Division. It now contains the graves of 14,246, including 486 unknown soldiers. Panels on the Memorial Chapel walls record the names of a further 954 missing. The white marble crosses or Stars of David record the unit details of each casualty and their State. As a comparison the World War II D-Day Landings Cemetery in Normandy contains 9,386 graves.

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive was the final offensive of World War I. It was the biggest operation and victory of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in that war. The offensive took place in the Verdun Sector, immediately north and northwest of the town of Verdun, between September 26 - November 11,1918. It was launched as part of Marshall Ferdinand Foch's Grand Offensive, comprising attacks by the AEF and French Fourth Army on Septemer 26, the British Fourth Army on September 27, the British and Belgians at Ypres on September 28. These operations led to a general advance along most of the Western Front, resulting in the German Army's final defeat and the signing of an armistice on November 11 to bring hostilities between the allies and central powers to an end.

Further information on the Cemetery

France Remembers (Choose Entrer dans le site, then Diaporama for World War I Photos)

Photo Gallery - Reims to Verdun

Help the VFW

Update: A supporter of the Royal British Legion blog has left a link to their Remembrance podcast in the comments. It is a very short and moving program which you should hear. Click here to hear the memorial.