Honoring Veterans

Monday, November 11, is Veterans Day - a U.S. legal holiday dedicated to American veterans of all wars - and marks the day in 1918, when on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, was declared between the Allied nations and Germany in World War I, then known as “the Great War.”

Commemorated in many countries as Armistice Day, November 11th became a federal holiday in the United States in 1938. In the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War, Armistice Day became known as Veterans Day. Over the years many traditions and ceremonies have developed to honor our veterans. But honoring veterans was not something new.

Payment provided to soldiers wounded during the American Revolution is the nation's earliest form of Veterans benefit. Next would be the law passed by the Continental Congress in 1776 awarding grants of public land to all who served in the Continental Army. The amount of land varied with rank, ranging from 100 acres for privates and noncommissioned officers to 500 acres for colonels and 1,100 acres for major generals.

After the Revolution, the federal government reserved several million acres in Ohio for the settlement of veterans who earned a bounty land warrant. For a nation with limited financial resources, the bounties were an appealing tool to encourage enlistment and reward military service.

At Historic Fort Steuben, you can learn about the life of the soldiers stationed at the original Fort Steuben in 1786-1787, many of whom were veterans of the American Revolution. Their purpose then was to protect the surveyors of the Northwest Territory who were tasked with laying out the land into rectangular sections and townships that would be sold to raise funds for the young nation or awarded to veterans.

Today, many young men and women enlist in the military with the promises of covering the costs of college, graduate school, and training programs. But in the early days of the nation, the promise of land was an even greater incentive to enlist.

On this Veterans Day, be sure to thank a Veteran, and support all the programs to help them as they return to civilian life.