The beginning of the 20th century as you know it...

...ended at 11:11 AM, November 11, 1918, when the Armistice was declared between France, Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Turkey, Italy, the United States, and every other country, dominion, and colony that embroiled itself in the Great War of 1914-1918.

Today, in the US, it's Veterans Day. My pops is a veteran of the Vietnam war, as is my uncle. My deceased granddad fought in Burma during the Second World War, and a great-uncle of mine served in the Great War, where he was gassed. I don't know that Veterans Day covers Confederate veterans- probably not- but a distant relative of mine fought for the Confederacy, too.

I grew up in the shadow of the military, yet was never pressed by anyone into becoming part of the body that cast that shadow. In deference to the thousands and thousands of people who gave their lives defending ideals they believed in, I will not politicize this day, which I personally will always call Armistice Day, because I'm fascinated by the Great War. I will say this, however: it is because of the sacrifice of others that I am the man I am today, and it is because of the people who sacrificed that I am not a soldier, or more likely a Marine, for which both they and I are grateful. The choice not to become an armed servant of the state is, I think, one of the few things about being a citizen of a democracy that cannot be lauded highly enough, and for that, I thank everyone who did choose, for whatever reason, to take up arms for a greater ideal. Thank you for letting me- and I speak for the American public here- be me, no matter how much you like or dislike me, because the fact that you would fight in my name says enough about you, politics aside.

Here's to every last soul that etched this date in stone: French, German, British, Belgian, Russian, Austrian, Italian, Serbian, Montenegrin, American, Turkish, Romanian, Australian, New Zealander, Canadian, Indian, Portuguese, Afrikaner, Moroccan, Senegalese, Chinese, Ammanite, Japanese... every soul, military or civilian, that dealt with over four years of horror in the hopes of seeing a better world come of it. I'm sorry that it hasn't completely worked out that way, and it may never will, but we're trying. Most importantly, know that someone out there, his raging cynicism and anarchism aside, refuses to forget you.