All Sports WNY salutes all of those who have served this great country today on Veteran’s Day. Serving the United States of America in defense of our freedom is truly a service of honor.

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed November 11th as Armistice Day in 1919, honoring those who served in World War I. In 1945, WWII veteran Raymond Weeks from Birmingham, Alabama, had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans, not just those who died in World War I.

Weeks led a delegation to Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, who supported the idea of National Veterans Day. Weeks led the first national celebration in 1947 in Alabama and annually until his death in 1985. President Reagan honored Weeks at the White House with the Presidential Citizenship Medal in 1982 as the driving force for the national holiday. Elizabeth Dole, who prepared the briefing for President Reagan, determined Weeks as the “Father of Veterans Day.”

On this Veterans Day salute those who have served and those who continue to serve the United States of America.

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