Veterans Day, originally known as Armistice Day, is observed annually on Nov. 11.
It coincides with Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, which are celebrated in other countries that mark the anniversary of the end of World War I.
Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.
Veterans Day is distinct from Memorial Day. Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans, Memorial Day honors those who had died while in military service, and Armed Forces Day, honors those currently serving in the U.S. military.
Clearfield County lost 185 soldiers KIA during World War I.
In Photo 1 is Private Bernard Johnson and Private Louis Leynaud.
Leynaud was wounded by shell fire on Oct. 9, 1918 during the Argonne offensive. He died Oct. 26. Johnson was killed in action on Sept. 26.
Both bodies were brought back to Houtzdale and reinterred in 1912. The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Houtzdale was named for Private Leynaud.
In Photo 2 is Lloyd Shaw Owens, who was born in 1891 in Lawrence Township and served in France for one year (1918-1919) with the 310th Ambulance Unit. His ambulance was a horse and wagon.
Photo 3 and 4 are of Private Thomas Solley of Greenville, Bloom Township, and his gas mask
Photo 5 is Francis S. Royer of Frenchville who was gassed and survived.
