An Invitation to Guest Blog on Veterans Day

I've been around for a fair number of Veterans Days, in fact some 35 of them since I was discharged from the Army and became a veteran myself.

The holiday has changed dramatically since I was a kid. Back then, many people flew American flags in rememberance of the sacrifices of American veterans. Schools and most businesses were closed. Many communities had parades. If you were a merchant, it would have been in bad taste to have a Veterans Day sale.

Today few people fly flags. No schools and only a few government offices are closed. There are few parades, and many of them are pretty anemic affairs. At malls and shopping centers, bad taste abounds.

Let me be clear that there are many ways to commemorate veterans that are not ostentatious. For many years, 10 or so vets and I would meet at a local watering hole, tell war stories and get quietly drunk. Today only three of us are alive.

This year is different and I feel a pressing need to reach out on Veterans Day, which as usual is on November 11.

Being not unfamiliar with war myself, not a day passes that I don't think of all the Americans in uniform in Iraq, Afghanistan, on the DMZ in Korea, and elsewhere. Regardless of the bankrupt policies of their commander in chief and criminally reckless defense secretary, each and every one of these men and women deserve our support.

That said, Kiko's House extends an invitation to you to guest blog on Veterans Day. Drop me a line at kikokimba@gmail.com and we'll kick around your ideas.

Thank you. And God bless America.

ABOUT THE HOLIDAY

Veterans Day -- unlike other U.S. holidays like Memorial Day and Independence Day that have shifted from their original days to "observed" status so they can be part of a three-day weekend (more time to shop) -- has always been on November 11.

Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice. Veterans Day was first commemorated as Armistice Day by President Wilson in 1919, and many states subsequently made it a legal holiday. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 inviting all Americans to observe the day, and made it a legal holiday nationwide in 1938.