Grundy County celebrates Veterans Day with ceremonies in Morris, Diamond

Grundy County will celebrate Veterans Day Monday with many ceremonies across the county including one at 11 a.m. Monday at the Diamond Banquet Hall, 55 S. Daly St. in Diamond and at 11 a.m. Monday at the Grundy County Courthouse, 111 E. Washington St. in Morris.

St. Juvin VFW Post 1336 will be participating in the observance and Diamond, and the Morris American Legion is hosting the Morris observance.

The Grundy County Veterans Assistance Commission shared a history of Veterans Day, which was originally known as Armistice Day: “World War I began in 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and lasted until 1918,” reads a Thursday news release. “Thanks to new military technologies and the horrors of trench warfare, World War I saw unprecedented levels of carnage and destruction. By the time the war was over and the Allied Powers claimed victory, more than 16 million people, soldiers and civilians alike, were dead.”

World War I ended on Nov. 11, 1918, and has since been an opportunity for the US to recognize American veterans of all generations.