Veteran's Day and Eleven's Day--11.11.11

Today's date is November 11, 2011...numerically that is 11.11.11, so today became a fun day exploring the number 11. Here the kids show off the eleven items that brought.

Multiplying 1's (11, or 111, and so forth) create a palindrome, a number that can be written forward and backwards and still be correct.

(we talked a bit about words that are palindromes too, such as race car, mom, level etc.)

Today is also Veteran's Day. We learned that Great Britain, France, Canada, and other countries celebrate November 11th as Armistice Day to commemorate the ending of World War I on November 11, 1918. Fighting ceased at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month.

Some other highlights we learned:

1919 President Wilson proclaimed Nov. 11th as Armistice Day to remind American of the tragedies of war.

On Nov. 11, 1921 an unidentified American soldier killed in the war was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC. It is called the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. On Memorial Day of 1958, two more unknown soldiers were re interred along side the unknown soldier of WWI. One was a casualty of WWII and the other one of the Korean War. In 1973, a law was passed to add another unknown soldier from the Vietnam war, but none could be found until 1984.

In 1938, Nov. 11 becomes a national holiday.

In 1954, President Eisenhower signed legislation changing the name to Veteran's Day in order to honor veterans of all American wars.

We also learned that Memorial Day and Veteran's day are not the same thing. Veterans' Day honors all members of the military that have honorably served our country. Memorial day is to honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice--their lives-- to maintain our freedoms while serving our country.

The kids then wrote letters that will be sent to soldiers currently serving in Iraq to share their thanks and gratitude for their service to our beloved country.
And most of all, we are grateful to our favorite veterans--Daddy, Grandpa Stumm and Papa Hale!! (and our other family ancestors that have served our country.)