November 7, 2017 – While this photo of Paducah and Louisville Railway’s “Salute to our Veterans” locomotive 2129 trailing on a northbound local at West Yard in Madisonville, Ky was taken several days ago, I felt today was the appropriate day to post it. I salute all the railroaders, railfans and others that have served our county! It’s an honor to be counted among your ranks!
Veterans Day is a U.S. legal holiday dedicated to American veterans of all wars. In 1918, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, was declared between the Allied nations and Germany in World War I, then known as “the Great War.” Commemorated in many countries as Armistice Day the following year, November 11th became a federal holiday in the United States in 1938. In the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War, Armistice Day became legally known as Veterans Day. While it’s celebrated on the Friday before or Monday after if it falls on a weekend to allow for the federal holiday, the 11th is the traditional day of celebration.