November 11, 2026

On this day in 1918 at the 11th hour, was the end of World War I, otherwise known as the Great War.  In Canada, this day is called Remembrance Day and hee in the US, it is called Veteran's Day. 

When I was young, every Sunday before Remembrance/Veteran’s Day, we would go to Windsor and Mom would March either with the Service Battalion or the Cadet Corps from the Canadian Legion to this beautiful church.  There would be a special church service and afterwards we would go to the cemetery Nextel to the church to put poppies on the veterans grave sites.  Then they would March back to the legion and we would have lunch, our parents would be in a different area and we three would have to wait and wait and wait for them to be done chatting so we could go home.  I cannot even add up all the hours we three had to wait when either both parents and then just mom would be in the officer’s mess after parades.  It was so boring. Sometimes we would have something to do, not always though.  Sometimes being an Army Brat was tough work.  Much waiting is involved.  

When I was a cadet, I would be one of the cadets marching to the church and back.  I still had to wait for what felt like absolutely forever while mom was in the officer’s mess everywhere we went.  

There is a story that has been told that happened on Christmas Eve 1914 in the height of WWI, at the front.  There was a truce for that night because it was Christmas Eve and it was suppose to last through the end of Christmas Day.  In the trenches in France The French and German Soldiers began singing Christmas Carols and coming out of there trenches to meet one another.  They exchanged what they had as gifts and for one night they weren’t enemy soldiers, they were brothers.Collin Raye has a beautiful song on his Christmas Album called, “It Could Happen Again”.  Johnny Cash did the prologue beautifully.  The song gets to me every time I hear it.

So the reason today is both Remembrance Day and Veteran’s Day is because the at 11am on November 11, 1918 the Armistice was signed.  The fighting ended.