Honor Veterans At Ocean County Veterans Day Parade In Toms River

TOMS RIVER, NJ ? Military veterans will be honored on Tuesday at the annual Ocean County Veterans Day Parade in Toms River.

The parade, organized by the Toms River Veterans Commission, is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. down Main Street in Toms River. The parade walks down Main Street to Washington Street and ends at Toms River Town Hall on Washington Street.

The commission invites veterans, school bands, marchers and any participants, along with encouraging residents to come and support the parade as spectators.

Those who would like to march should assemble between 8:15 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. on Highland Parkway, just south of Route 37, for the procession down Main Street.

"No political statements please," organizers said.

For more information call Bill Schmidt at 732-575-6904.

Veterans Day got its start as Armistice Day, marking the date a ceasefire ? the armistice ? between the Allied nations and Germany began in 1918 and is regarded as the end of World War I, though the official end came on June 28, 1919 when the Treaty of Versailles was signed near the town of Versailles, France, according to the U.S. Veterans Affairs website.

Armistice Day was first commemorated on Nov. 11, 1919. President Woodrow Wilson marked the day by saying, "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country?s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations ?"

A Congressional resolution officially marked the date in 1926, according to the VA website, calling on governments, churches and schools in the United States to mark the date with a commemoration, saying in part, "it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations."

It was made a federal holiday in 1938 as Armistice Day, but the name was changed to Veterans Day in 1954, in the wake of World War II and the Korean War.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first "Veterans Day Proclamation" in October 1954.