U.S. Coast Guard, Veterans Day Parade, Manhattan, New York, 11 November 2009. Wikimedia Commons
When I’m walking around on Veterans Day with my “Navy Veteran” ballcap on and someone says, “Thank you for your service!” I always remember my grandfather intoning in his baritone Kentucky accent, “The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” every November 11.
William C. Warfield fought in Europe in World War I, and my grandmother was so proud she gave his dress uniform to the Smithsonian. Grandpa Bill was still in France for Armistice Day on 11 November 1918, the day a cessation of hostilities went into effect between the Allied nations and Germany. Researching his stories of that war, my uncle’s exploits in the Navy during the Korean War, and my great-aunt’s service as an Army nurse who treated Marines after the Battles of Iwo Jima, Midway, and Guadalcanal during World War II, led to an early love of genealogy and later, a profession.
Veterans Day: Honor Military the Month of November
Veterans Day is meant to celebrate and honor America’s military veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to fight for its ideals. Initially, Veterans day was called Armistice Day from 11 November 1919. It was first set aside as a holiday to remember the veterans of World War I. Up until 1 June 1954, when it became Veterans Day, to honor American veterans of all wars. Unlike three other federal holidays which are celebrated on Mondays to create three-day weekends, Veterans Day is always November 11. For a seven-year span in the 1970s, Veterans Day was also celebrated on a Monday, but because of the historic significance of the actual armistice date and the lobbying of many veterans, the federal holiday was changed back to its rightful date, November 11.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, 1943. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
The British Commonwealth observes Remembrance Day also on November 11. On that date in 1920, an unidentified soldier was laid to rest at Westminster Abbey in London, and France buried an unidentified soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The United States did the same on 11 November 1921, interring an anonymous American solder at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery in Virginia.
Celebrating Military Service in American History
The idea of honoring American veterans did not start with World War I. The war that created our nation, and the men and women who accomplished that victory, are honored with parades, speeches, barbeques, and fireworks during Independence Day. The Declaration of Independence was first adopted on the Fourth of July in 1776.
Patriots’ Day in Massachusetts (the third Monday in April) commemorates the American victory at Lexington and Concord with the Boston Marathon, battle reenactments, and other state observances, and celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2025.
Lexington Minute Men reenacting battle in Lexington, Massachusetts. 18 April 2025. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Yorktown Day, observed in Yorktown, Virginia, every October 19, remembers the British surrender there in 1781.
How is Veterans Day Different than Memorial Day?
Memorial Day is celebrated the last Monday in May and was first called Decoration Day. Flowers, flags, and other mementos were placed on graves of Union soldiers after the American Civil War, which marked the first observed Memorial Day on 30 May 1868. It is an often-misunderstood remembrance because it is not meant as a celebration of all American veterans, but commemorates the soldiers and sailors who lost their lives during or after a war due to injuries suffered in the war.
All Union states had adopted this holiday by 1890, but after the world wars it became a remembrance day for all U.S. military service members who died in wartime service and was officially named Memorial Day in 1971. A third military celebration, Armed Forces Day every May, honors those service members currently in the military.
Flags placed at headstones, Arlington National Cemetery, Memorial Day 2008. Wikimedia Commons.
Celebrating Your Military Veterans Through Family History Research
A fun way to remember your own military veterans would be to research their military activities whenever they served during the last 250 years. Were they Army, state militia, Navy, Marines, Army Air Force, Air Force, Coast Guard, or National Guard? Did they fight in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, or one of the Gulf Wars? Researching each of these wars can sometimes be vastly different, depending on where they fought, during what time period, and which service they were in.
For example, Revolutionary War pension records and bounty land grants are fairly easily available, and Civil War compiled military service records and pension files can be ordered from the National Archives. Legacy Tree Genealogists can help you with both! I just received one pension file that had 170 pages, including original marriage records, tales of a soldier’s service at the Battle of Antietam where he met President Lincoln, and a list of all of his children and their exact birthdates.
Dr. Walter Warfield, first page of compiled military service record, Revolutionary War. Personal files of author.
Navy and Marine Corps records are largely intact at the National Archives. However, the Army, Army Air Forces, and Air Force records between World War I and into the Vietnam era suffered a disastrous fire at their repository in 1973. Between sixty and eighty percent of records were destroyed. To reconstruct these records, our professional genealogists have experience piecing together a soldier’s or airman’s military record. We do this using enlistment papers, hometown newspaper articles, letters and diaries, class books, photographs, unit histories and organizations, and other memorabilia to create as complete a timeline as possible for your veteran.
So between the barbequed ribs, the marching bands, the decorating of graves, and the sparkling fireworks, think about how fascinating it would be to have a more detailed look at your veterans’ military service with the help of our experts in military genealogy.
If you want to learn more about the military service of your ancestors, contact us and we'd love to talk about your project.
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