Veterans Day in Ishpeming

It was a day of remembrance and a day to show thanks to America’s veterans across the Upper Peninsula.

Veterans in Ishpeming and their loved ones celebrated with the help of the Ishpeming High School band. The Ishpeming VFW Post usually holds a Veterans Day parade, but the snowy, icy weather forced everyone to stay indoors.

“It means a whole lot because I had a lot of guys that I grew up with that have come back, and some haven’t,” Navy veteran and VFW Post 4573 Commander Ron Pennala said. “That’s why I join this, to be with the comrades.”

“We, the military member, go off and do whatever it is we’re doing; sometimes it might even be fun and exciting,” Air Force veteran and Ishpeming City Manager Mark Slown said. “Our families are behind. I just think Veterans Day is a day to remember the service person and the families.”

The peace agreement that ended World War I was signed on November 11th, 1918. The following year, President Woodrow Wilson declared that date Armistice Day. It later became a federal holiday.

In 1954, Congress changed the name to Veterans Day, honoring everyone to have put on an American military uniform.