Veterans Day honors all of those who have served the country in war or peace — it’s largely intended to thank living veterans for their sacrifices.

It was originally called Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I.

World War I officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919. However, the fighting ended about seven months before that when the Allies and Germany put into effect an armistice on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.   

For that reason, Nov. 11, 1918, was largely considered the end of “the war to end all wars” and dubbed Armistice Day.

In 1926, Congress officially recognized it as the end of the war, and in 1938, it became an official holiday, primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I.

But then World War II and the Korean War happened, so on June 1, 1954, at the urging of veterans service organizations, Congress amended the commemoration yet again by changing the word “armistice” to “veterans” so the day would honor American veterans of all wars.  

Let me segue to our first American Veterans on this special day!

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?  

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. 

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured. 

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.  They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.  Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated.  But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy.  He sold his home and properties to pay his debts and died in rags. 

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly.  He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding.  His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.  Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton. 

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire.  The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt. 

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed.  The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. 

John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying.  Their 13 children fled for their lives.  His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste.  For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.  Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates. 

Finally, my ancestor, Nathaniel Scudder (May 10, 1733 – October 17, 1781) was an American Founding Father, graduate of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton), a Medical Physician, and a Lieutenant Colonel during the American Revolutionary War. He served as a delegate for New Jersey to the Continental Congress, where he was one of two delegates from New Jersey to sign the Articles of Confederation.

On October 17, 1781, he led a part of his regiment to offer resistance to a British Army foraging party and was killed in a skirmish near Shrewsbury, New Jersey. He is buried in the Tennent Church Graveyard in Manalapan Township. Dr. Scudder was the only member of the Continental Congress to die in battle during the Revolutionary War and the last colonel to die in battle.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution.  These were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education.

They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: “For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” 

They gave you and me a free and independent America.  The history books never told you a lot of what happened in the Revolutionary War. 

We didn’t just fight the British.  We were British subjects at that time, and we fought our own government! Some of us take these liberties so much for granted…We shouldn’t. 

So, take a couple of minutes while to reflect on this Veterans Day and silently thank these patriots.  It’s not much to ask for the price they paid.

God Bless all of you and Happy Veteran’s Day!