Veterans Day 2023

"Born free, thus we resolve to live:

By Heaven, we will be free.

By all the stars which burn on high,

By the green earth-the mighty sea-

By God's unshaken majesty,

We will be free or die!-

"Oath of Freedom"
James Barron Hope
(1829-1887)
American poet

Image courtesy/WVTF

It was at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day in the eleventh month of 1918 
that an armistice was signed ending WWI.  Often called "The Great War"
and "The war to end all wars" for many years this day was observed in
the United States and other nations which had fought in it as Armistice Day.

Although it was an commemoration of peace restored to the world, a little over
twenty years later, America would be engaged in World War II, followed by
the conflict often called, "the forgotten war" fought in Korea.

The United States Congress decided to make the observation of Armistice Day
an occasion to honor all those who have served in America's Armed Forces. 

  President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a soldier and veteran Five Star General
 who had served as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces
 in Europe during WWII, signed a bill on May 26, 1954 which officially
changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day.

Am I A Soldier Of The Cross, 

 A follower of the Lamb,

And shall I fear to His own cause, 

Or blush to speak His Name?

Must I be carried to the skies

On flowery beds of ease,

While others fought to win the prize,

And sailed thro' bloody seas?

Are there no foes for me to fear?

Must I not stem the flood?

Is this vile world a friend to grace,

To help me on to God?

Sure I must fight, if I would reign:

Increase my courage, Lord;

I bear the toil, endure the pain,

Supported by Thy Word.

Thy saints in all this glorious war

Shall conquer, though they die;

They see the triumph from afar,

By faith they bring it nigh.

When that illustrious day shall rise,

And all Thy armies shine

In robes of victory through the skies

The glory shall be Thine.

"Am I A Soldier Of The Cross"
(1724)
Isaac Watts
(1674-1748)
English Congregationalist Minister
hymn writer, theologian, logician