Jack McDuffie, Special to the Journal

DUBLIN — The flagpole at Bladen Community College was the scene of a very special event at 11 a.m. on Veterans Day. The college hosted a community ceremony to honor the veterans of the nation’s armed forces.

After a short welcome by BCC President Dr. William Findt, the ceremony kicked off with posting of the colors by the West Bladen High School Junior ROTC Color Guard. A high point of the program was the honoring of the veterans of each of the armed forces as their respective service anthems played.

The keynote speaker was BCC history instructor and former Army officer Cliff Tyndall, who spoke on the history and significance of the day. He interspersed his presentation with questions about the how the holiday evolved and why it is observed. He explained that Veterans Day was originally called Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, to commemorate the ending of World War I, and that it was not always a holiday.

He pointed out that it is celebrated on Nov. 11, because the Armistice ending World War I was signed on that day. He noted that the BCC committee in charge of organizing the ceremony elected to hold it at 11 a.m., because the Armistice was signed at that time on Nov. 11, 1918.

Tyndall stated that in 1919 President Woodrow Wilson set aside Nov. 12 as Armistice Day; however, the day was changed seven years later by Congressional Resolution to Nov. 11. It was not until 1938 that it was set aside as a national holiday, he said.

A movement began in 1953 to change the name of the holiday to Veterans Day to honor all of the nation’s veterans. Armistice Day had been a day to honor veterans of World War I.

In 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower signed a bill into law officially changing the name of the holiday to Veterans Day, Tyndall added.

As Tyndall spoke, local pilot Reynold Hester made several flyovers to entertain the assembly and add a special exclamation point to the ceremony. After the retiring of the colors, the event ended with a reception in the student center.