History and Culture
For God and Country
For centuries, Orthodox Christians have prayed for the warriors who died defending their people. It’s a tradition worth bringing to America’s national calendar.
On Monday, November 11, 1918 – at “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” – the guns of the Western Front fell silent. The Armistice went into effect, marking the official end of the First World War. Almost five million Americans served during our brief but decisive involvement in the war. For the next thirty-six years, Armistice Day honored their heroism and sacrifice. In 1954, President Eisenhower changed the name of the holiday to Veterans Day, honoring American veterans of every war. The holiday is an excellent opportunity for Orthodox Christians to reflect on how we honor veterans, as well.
Even before the great waves of 20th century immigration, many Orthodox Christians called America home and fought in the Great War. This included thousands of Greek immigrants, some of whom had fought in the Balkan Wars only a few years earlier. Among these immigrants was George Dilboy, a Greek-American born in Asia Minor (then part of the Ottoman Empire), who went on to receive the Medal of Honor for his service. Plaques and monuments in churches of the Greek Archdiocese, the Serbian Church, and the former American Metropolia (both OCA and ROCOR) bear the names of their sons who went off to war and never returned.
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