NY state VFW commander visits Eldred

ELDRED, NY— While Memorial Day celebrates veterans who died in the service to their country, Veterans Day serves to honor the living vets. For this year’s anniversary, Jack Haight, New York State Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, visited local VFW members at the Eldred Preserve on November 8. Pictured above are VFW senior vice commander Al Etkin, left, Charlotte Haight, Jack Haight and Keith Rumsey, VFW commander of Sullivan County.

In November 1919, President Wilson declared November 11 as the first Armistice Day in recognition of the veterans who served in World War I.

In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower changed the name to Veterans Day. In the proclamation, he said, “Let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain.”

There are 23.4 million living veterans in the nation today.