Armistice Day officially received its name in America in 1926 through a Congressional resolution. It was first issued on Nov. 11, 1919, by President Woodrow Wilson.

It was on the 11th day of the 11th hour of the 11th month that the fighting in WWI ended in 1918.

It wasn’t until 1954 that it was called Veterans Day, a day, that simply put, honors all veterans, both men and women who have served in the Armed Forces.

In 1921, on a beautiful, little hillside overlooking the Potomac River, in Arlington National cemetery, an unknown American solider from WWI was buried.

In 1954 President Eisenhower signed a bill proclaiming Nov. 11, as Veterans Day, a day to honor all veterans including the 16.5 million Americans that took part in WWII and the 479,000 that died in service.

It all began on 11/11/1911, the day the Armistice for WWI was signed in France. It was called Armistice Day.

Today of course we have the WWII, Korean War, Vietnam vets, Desert Storm and all who have served since.

I gave a Veterans Day speech in Pierre here about five years ago. I dug out my old notes, because in that speech I included 5-10 minutes to “Veterans I Have Known.” I’d like to share some of those thoughts with you in this column.

Dennis Foell (Vietnam, machine gunner, Americal Division, 2 Bronze Stars)

Dave Volk, former state treasurer (101st Airborne, Bronze Star)

Ken Korkow (probably South Dakota’s most highly decorated (Vietnam, Purple Heart with gold star; Vietnam Svc with 2 Bronze Stars, Navy Cross, among others)

Wayne Mundt, combat medic (Vietnam)

Howard Nelson, my uncle (Silver, Bronze Stars, WWII)

Harry Jassman (WWII)

Cal Jassman (WWII, Korea, fighter pilot)

Ken Kelly (WWII, liberated Auschwitz death camp)

John Moisan (Vietnam Veterans Memorial coordinator, 1st Lt. Army)

Lloyd Thompson (Korea, flew on a C-47, doing night reconnaissance and dropping flares during battles)

Steve Gomez, Don Rounds, Bob Nystrom (Korean war, Alaska 160th NatGuard – between all three they had over 100 years of service)

Mike McClelland (3 Purple Hearts)

Dan Costner, Ft. Pierre (both Mike and Dan fought in the battle of Hue)

Jim Cox, Yankton (1st Lt. Saigon)

John Cooper, Pierre (Undersea Warfare Group, Mekong Delta, Bronze Star)

Barry Zehr (21 years Vietnam helicopter company)

In closing I have to mention three non-residents, Alex and Andrew to begin with. Cody Warne, Jim Zumbo, and I took them hunting at Warne ranches and in the area. Alex lost his legs below the knees, Andrew below the waist. Alex was driving a Humvee when a roadside bomb was detonated. His three passengers were killed. Andrew lost his legs “In Downtown Baghdad,” he told me. “When I stepped on it, they detonated it, a remote-controlled mine,” he said.

Then there was Sargent French, his wife and baby daughter who came out. Jim Zumbo, host of “Jim Zumbo’s Outdoors TV” show brought them out to shoot prairie dogs and fish. Sgt. French picked up a grenade that landed in their bunker in Afghanistan. He threw it out. It went off just feet from him and shredded his arm. Fourteen operations later he regained 70% use of his arm. Oh, by the way, he was one “he—uva” good shot.

In closing. The veterans I’ve mentioned in this column are just a few of many I’ve had the privilege to know. To those of you I’ve not mentioned…well I threw about 50 names in a box and picked out about a dozen. On this coming Veterans Day, I say “Thank you for your service” to all of you, from me and all our fellow South Dakotans.

*Editor’s note—Nelson served three years in the U.S. Army.

Steve Nelson, a Pierre resident, is a longtime outdoor writer and photographer.