Veterans Day: Honoring Those Who Served in America’s Military

Veterans Day: Honoring Those Who Served in America's Military

State legislatures play an important role in helping veterans and their families transition smoothly to civilian life.

Veterans Day began as Armistice Day, on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the cessation of hostilities in World War I: the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. (MivPiv/Getty Images)

The Veterans Day holiday honors all those who have served the United States in a military uniform.

It began as Armistice Day, on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the cessation of hostilities in World War I: the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Known as Veterans Day since 1954, the federal holiday includes local parades and ceremonies for veterans, and many observe a two-minute moment of silence-encouraged by the Veterans Day Moment of Silence Act of 2016-at 11:11 a.m. in each time zone. Other ways Americans honor veterans include volunteering for veteran-focused organizations, visiting veterans memorials, donating to charities that support veterans, and flying the American flag.

Nearly 19 million veterans, or about 6% of the population, live in the U.S. today. They are predominantly male (88.8%), though the number of female veterans is on the rise at 2.1 million. About 5.3 million veterans have a service-connected disability.

Over 1 million veterans reside in California, Florida and Texas, while Georgia, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia each have over 500,000. Veterans make up 10% or more of the total adult population in six states-Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Virginia and Wyoming.

State legislatures play an important role in ensuring that veterans and their families receive the resources and information needed to make a smooth transition to civilian life, as well as providing ongoing benefits and services for veterans related to education, workforce development, mental health and suicide prevention. Legislatures have enacted thousands of bills in the last decade to better serve veterans, including hundreds in 2024-25. A few examples follow from NCSL's Military and Veterans Legislation Database:

• Alabama created the Veterans Resource Center (SB 70) to provide comprehensive support services to veterans and their families. It addresses the unique challenges veterans encounter when moving from military service to civilian life relative to accessing benefits, finding employment and meeting mental health needs.
• Delaware established a new Department of Veterans Affairs (HB 1), elevating it from a division of the Department of State. The new department will administer the state veteran cemeteries; create one or more homes to care for elder veterans; and administer a state trust fund to cover costs associated with veterans' medical and dental needs, medical transportation, housing support, household utilities and educational or retraining programs.
• Florida required the Department of Veterans' Affairs to coordinate with the U.S. Department of Defense to help service members returning to or moving to Florida following their service and during reentry into civilian life, including connecting them with the nonprofit Florida Is for Veterans Inc. The department is tasked with developing a plan with six specific elements to establish adult day care facilities across the state to serve veterans and their families.
• Maryland expanded eligibility for the State Veterans Service Animal Program (SB 182) to include a spouse or dependent of an eligible veteran.
• Virginia authorized its Office of Data Governance and Analytics (HB 589) to enter into reciprocal agreements with other state agencies to share veteran-specific data to support data-informed outreach plans for veterans relative to employment, social services, taxation and small businesses.

NCSL addresses veterans issues through the Task Force on Military and Veterans Affairs, which gathers state legislators and staff to share state policy options and innovations to assist military service members and veterans in their states. It also coordinates closely with the Defense Department to work with military installations to address issues of mission change and local land use, and to foster increased collaboration around infrastructure and services.

Jim Reed directs the NCSL Environment, Energy and Transportation program and staffs the NCSL Task Force on Military and Veterans Affairs.