Originally Armistice Day, the 11th day of the 11th month, commemorated the end of the Great War, the "war to end all wars" (which all hoped would hold true) and honored those who served in it. After World War II, which forced us to drop the slogan and recognize the Great War as World War I, and then the Korean "Conflict" (legal semantics for political purposes), Congress, in 1954, seeing the need to honor all who serve, gave the holiday its present name, Veterans Day.
NOTE: It's easy to think of people who serve in the military as as illiterate, murder-driven crazy hicks, at least in this era. Not the case. Serving in your countries military used to be incredibly honorable, because the causes, motives and practices were more honorable. Today I wouldn't agree that things are the same. Still 1/3 of the homeless in this country are veterans. They gave their lives, time, and many cases sanity for the this country and we still need to take care of them and recognize their huge sacrifices.
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