My Veterans Day Note to My Saatva Team

Good Morning Saatva Team,

I hope this note finds you having an excellent Veterans Day.

On this day 104 years ago, France and Germany signed an armistice that would quiet the guns on the Western Front and bring World War I—often called the “War to End All Wars” or the “Great War”—to an end. The armistice was signed in Compiègne, France, at 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918, hence the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. The fighting continued until the last possible moment and resulted in more than eight million casualties, including 2,738 deaths on the war’s last day. The last American soldier to be killed in World War I was Henry Gunther, who was killed at 10:59 am on November 11th, just sixty seconds before the guns fell silent. Though that silence didn’t last long, actually less than a month, it marked a brief respite from the horrors of a war that would change the lives of Americans for generations.

General George Pershing said of the Allied soldiers, “Time will not dim the glory of their deeds,” and what began as Armistice Day is now known as Veterans Day. We refer to it as “Veterans” Day and not “Veteran’s” Day because the day doesn’t belong to veterans but rather honors them. It is a time to thank current and past service members for answering the call. If you see or interact with a veteran today, you don’t have to thank them for their service, but if you do, I’m sure they won’t mind. As a veteran myself, I can assure you that we appreciate it, even if we are sometimes unsure how to respond to the recognition.

One way to visually commemorate Veterans Day is with a red poppy. If you see a red poppy in the media or in someone’s lapel today, they are paying homage to the poem “In Flanders Fields,” written in 1915 by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae.

If you have been to the office in Whitestone or any of our Viewing Rooms, you’ll have no doubt seen the vintage American flags hanging in each location. Seeing these flags reminds me of how proud I am to be part of a company that continues to be a steadfast supporter of veterans’ organizations, which has always been a cornerstone of our giving mission.

Jarrod

This article has been reposted on LinkedIn.