Greenlawn American Legion Post to Commemorate Veterans Day

To mark Veterans Day 2014, American Legion Greenlawn Post 1244 will conduct its annual Veterans Day Observance at 11:00 am on Tuesday, November 11^th, 2014 at the Greenlawn Memorial Park Monument at Pulaski Rd. and Broadway in Greenlawn.

The ceremony, which has been conducted annually for many years by the Greenlawn Post, is attended by many veterans, elected officials and members of the public.

“What we now call ‘Veterans Day’ began as ‘Armistice Day.’ It is historically significant that this day continues to be observed on the 11^th day of the 11^th month, and at 11:00 am, the very hour, in 1918, that the guns of World War I fell silent.” said Bob Santo, Commander of American Legion Greenlawn Post 1244.

“Veterans Day is a time to honor not just those who have fought for us in battle, but, in fact, all of the outstanding men and women who served in our nation’s Armed Forces since our founding more than 238 years ago. Not all veterans have seen war, but a common bond that they share is an oath in which they expressed their willingness to die defending this nation. Today, thousands of Americans are serving in uniform. They sacrifice in the war on terror and in hundreds of locations around the globe so we may remain free. They, too, are veterans, Santo said.

The American Legion is the nation’s largest wartime veteran’s organization. Founded early in 1919, the delegates to the first National Convention in Minneapolis broke from business sessions to parade down a main street in a heavy snowstorm at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11^th to mark the first anniversary of the armistice.

Photo above by Michael Macchiarella