The Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery is hosting a ceremony on Veterans Day to honor and celebrate our nation's heroes.
The keynote speaker will be Captain Mark McLean, Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base.
In partnership with the Texas National Cemetery Foundation, the ceremony will feature the U.S. Army 1st Cavalry Division Band, the Midlothian High School Choir, the Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base's Color Guard, a flyover by the Air Force Reserves' 457th Squadron, and a rifle salute by the 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment.
The ceremony will take place on Thursday at 11 a.m. at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, located at 2000 Mountain Creek Parkway in Dallas.
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According to the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, in 1921, an unknown World War I American soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, causing the site to become a point of reverence for America's Veterans.
Similar ceremonies occurred earlier in England and France, where an unknown soldier was buried in each nation's highest place of honor. These memorial gestures all took place on November 11, giving universal recognition to the end of fighting during World War I. The day became known as "Armistice Day."
The first celebration using the term "Veterans Day" occurred in Birmingham, Alabama, on Armistice Day in 1947. Raymond Weeks, a World War II Veteran, organized "National Veterans Day," which included a parade and other festivities to honor all Veterans.
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U.S. Representative Edward Rees of Kansas proposed a bill that would change Armistice Day to Veterans Day, which was passed by Congress and signed by President Eisenhower in 1954.
The Dallas Fort Worth National Cemetery opened in 2000, and since then, the cemetery has conducted more than 75,000 interments of Veterans and eligible dependents.
According to the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, burial in a VA national cemetery is open to all members of the armed forces and Veterans who have met minimum active duty service requirements and not were dishonorably discharged.
Members of the reserve components of the armed forces who die while on active duty under certain circumstances or who die while on training duty are also eligible for burial.
Service members and former service members who were eligible for retired pay at the time of their death are eligible as well.
Spouses, minor children and, under certain conditions, dependent unmarried adult children are also eligible for burial even if they predecease the Veteran, the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery said.
