In my humble opinion, we have two days of thanksgiving each November. Sure, there is the turkey-consuming national holiday which falls on the fourth Thursday of the month, but there is also our chance to thank the past and present members of our armed forces for their sacrifice, patriotism and service to our nation. I refer of course to Veterans Day, which we celebrated yesterday.

The origins of this holiday stretch back to 1918, when on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, an armistice agreement went into effect marking the unofficial end to “the war to end all wars,” which we know as World War I.

This year’s Veterans Day marked the 90th anniversary of the first celebration of this holiday, which was known as Armistice Day until 1954. Over time, it has become a day to recognize all veterans for their service to our great nation and the sacrifices our men and women in uniform make on behalf of our country.

Each year on this day, our service men and women as well as those who fought before them, are feted with parades, ceremonies and wreath laying in communities across America. Many of these events are planned by veterans themselves, through organizations like the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and the American Legion family.