Veterans Day to Be Observed on 11/11/11

Veterans Day is the day the United States honors those who have served their country in the military.

Veterans Day events traditionally start on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month because this was the date and hour when the armistice took effect, officially ending WWI back in 1918. This year, it also falls on the eleventh year of the century, making the number particularly special in 2011. (The date is also a perfect palindrome: 11/11/11.)

If you are a veteran and have a story to tell or photos to share, then Encino Patch would like to hear from you. Please contact the editor at anna.king@patch.com, or leave a note in the comment section below.

On Veterans Day last year, Encino Patch's Marianne Love told the incredible story of . Orloff told Patch that the Navy and Marines turned her down for being too short and too thin, but she persisted and eventually joined the Army.

Here's an excerpt from Love's interview with Orloff; to read the whole story,

Orloff said she served because she was "madder than the Dickens" over what was going on overseas.

"I was angry mostly about Hitler. I was sad about the Japanese here in America; I went to school with many Nisei and was upset when they were put into concentration camps," Orloff said. "Their lives were messed up. I understand those were the fortunes of war, but I still don't accept it."