Veterans Day, always observed on Nov. 11, has significant meaning for Hopkinsville and Christian County, where many people who served the country in the Armed Forces now reside.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimated in 2018 that Christian County’s veterans’ population was 12,234.
A report from the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs listed Christian County as having the fourth largest veteran population, behind Jefferson, Fayette and Hardin counties.
The combined compensation and benefits for Christian County veterans was slightly more than $50 million in 2017, according to the state agency.
For this holiday, most government offices are closed, including city and county agencies. Post offices and most banks are also closed.
America’s first observance honoring veterans was Armistice Day, which recognized the cessation of fighting in World War I. This occurred at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918.
President Woodrow Wilson, in November 1919, proclaimed, “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 …”
Following World War II, Armistice Day became recognized as Veterans Day.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
