Janet Noah has had the pleasure of being the director of community relations of The Bridges for the past 10 years. In those 10 years, she has gotten to know and love the residents at the facility. She has also grown a fondness for the veterans who are residents there.
“I have come to know our veteran residents and have great respect for them and the sacrifices they made serving our country,” Noah said.
To honor the veterans living at The Bridges, Noah and her staff have created an ‘Honoring Our Veterans Wall’ that will be unveiled on this upcoming Veterans Day.
“We have 15 veterans currently residing here,” Noah said. “We have always honored our veterans with a special program on Veterans Day. Veterans deserve our honor and this wall, ‘Honoring Our Veterans,’ is dedicated to them and their service to our country. Six of our veterans served during WWII and of those six, one is a woman who joined the U.S. Navy and served as a WAVE, Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service.”
Veterans Day was originally called Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I. World War I officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles, which was signed on June 28, 1919. However, the fighting ended about seven months before that when the Allies and Germany put into effect an armistice on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
For that reason, November 11, 1918 is largely considered the end of ‘the war to end all wars’ and dubbed ‘Armistice Day.’ In 1926, Congress officially recognized it as the end of the war. In 1938, it became an official holiday to honor veterans of World War I, but then World War II and the Korean War happened.
Therefore, on June 1, 1954, at the urging of veterans service organizations, Congress amended the commemoration yet again by changing the word ‘armistice’ to ‘veterans’ so the day would honor American veterans of all wars.
Fifteen veterans will be featured on the wall at The Bridges.
“A photo of the veteran in their uniform during their time of service, their current photo, branch of military, years served and military rank will be featured,” Noah said. “It gives us great pleasure to create this special wall for our veterans. It will continue to be our tradition. As new resident veterans move in, we will add to this wall. I am excited for our veterans to see their special wall and especially for their families to see it.”
To learn more about The Bridges, visit www.bridgesretirement.com or contact Noah at 413-8900. The Bridges is located at 11202 Dewhurst Dr. in Riverview.
