The university’s ROTC will honor all U.S. veterans who have fought for freedom during a short ceremony at 11 a.m. on Wednesday. Join the officer, non-commissioned officers, cadets and staff to honor America’s Veterans in Perritt Plaza (between Reynolda and Benson). The ceremony will include the history and playing of Tatoo and Taps, a laying of the wreath, and guest Mike Mabe, a Bronze Star, Purple Heart recipient who served in Vietnam.

Did You Know?

• Veterans Day is celebrated on November 11th every year to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. This day in 1918 is generally regarded as the end of the “war to end all wars.
• The ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. because the treaty went into effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
• An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday—a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as “Armistice Day.”
• In 1954, after WWII and the conflict in Korea, Congress amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word “Armistice” and inserting in its place the word “Veterans.”

For more information about the history of Veterans Day, visit the Department of Veteran Affairs Web site. You can read more about the Winston-Salem Veterans Day festivities here.