On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the guns that began to roar in August 1914 finally fell silent. The Great War, which took the lives of some 17 million people, including more than 116,000 Americans, was over.

One of the first wars to see the majority of its deaths come as a result of combat rather than disease, a celebration of the end of the greatest carnage that had befallen the world to that point was conceived in Armistice Day.

However, the armistice of the “war to end all wars” was quickly proved a misnomer as World War I set the stage for greater slaughter a generation later.

Following World War II, which claimed the lives of 400,000 Americans, it seemed appropriate to expand the meaning of Armistice Day. Raymond Weeks of Birmingham, Alabama, now considered the father of Veterans Day, took it upon himself to organize the first Veterans Day parade in 1947, and the idea grew popular across the country.

In 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower made the change official, proclaiming that Nov. 11 would henceforth be known as Veterans Day.

Addressing the symbolism of the new holiday, the president wrote, “Let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain.”

As the siren song of war is never far from human ears, let us remember President Eisenhower’s words this Veterans Day. May we all honor our veterans this day, but also strive for a more peaceful world where Americans are sent into conflicts only when our nation’s vital interests are truly at stake.

— This editorial originally appeared Nov. 11, 2014.