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NARRATOR: Soldiers from wars both old and new march down city streets. Flags hang from homes, businesses, even car antennas. Ceremonies remember those who dutifully served their nation. It's Veterans Day, or Remembrance Day, as it's known in much of the world, a time to honor members of the armed forces. And it all began in a railroad car, with a document to end "The War to End All Wars."

World War I, also known as The Great War, shocked the global community with its unprecedented toll in human life. Untold millions were killed. Germany was running low on manpower and supplies, so they agreed to sign an armistice, or truce, in the French commander Ferdinand Foch's private rail car. On the 11th hour, on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, all was quiet on the Western Front. The fighting had ended.

Exactly one year later, President Woodrow Wilson decreed that Americans should observe a moment of silence at 11:00 AM to remember the armistice and to embrace the peace. Other Allied nations commemorated the peaceful anniversary as well. In England and Canada, citizens wore paper poppies. Poppies had become a symbol of the armistice. The poem "Flanders Field" described a one-time battlefield. "In Flanders field, the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row."

In America, the nation's first Unknown Soldier was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery on Armistice Day, 1921. He was a casualty of the Great War. Since that first memorial, other unknown soldiers from America's wars have been interred in the tomb. And it's become tradition for the president or one of his representatives to lay a wreath on the monument every November 11.

A resolution was passed in 1926 inviting all Americans to remember Armistice Day and the soldiers who fought so hard for peace. The idea caught on. By 1938, the day was marked with so many ceremonies and parades, Congress made it a legal holiday, giving people the day off work.

After World War II and the Korean War, Americans wanted to open up the holiday to include not just World War I veterans but all who served in combat. In 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower, a World War II vet himself, legally changed the US Armistice Day to Veterans Day, honoring those who served in all American wars.

For a brief time, starting in 1971, Congress moved the holiday to the fourth Monday in October, giving Americans a three-day weekend. But most people rejected the idea. The traditional date of November 11, the anniversary of The Great War's ceasefire, was too historically important to forget. President Ford reversed the law in 1975, returning Veterans Day back to its rightful date.

Over the decades, the holiday has changed with the times. Originally, it was a call for world peace. Then, in the US, it became a day to remember war veterans. Today, Veterans Day is set aside to honor not just those who served in war but also those who have served their nation in peace.

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