LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — On Monday, Americans will have the opportunity to honor those who have served in the Armed Forces during our nation’s history.

The Lake County United Veterans Council invites the community to a Veterans Day celebration in the Konocti Vista Casino Banquet Hall on Monday.

Doors open at 10 a.m., with the ceremony beginning at 11 a.m. There will be speakers, a performance by the Clear Lake High School jazz band and a three-volley gun salute.

Veterans Day has its roots in World War I’s Armistice Day. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said that in November 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Nov. 11 of that year as the first commemoration of Armistice Day.

In May of 1938, Congress made Nov. 11 a legal holiday. It was then known as “Armistice Day,” and its focus was World War I veterans.

It was just three and a half years later that the United States entered World War II, which the VA said “required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen in the Nation’s history.”

In 1954, in response to requests from veterans organizations, Congress amended the act that had created Armistice Day to change Nov. 11 to Veterans Day, in order to honor veterans of all wars.

On Oct. 8, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower — one of the great heroes of World War II — issued the first Veterans Day Proclamation.

In it, he said this: “On that day, let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain.”

In 1968, there was legislation to move several holidays, including Veterans Day, to specific Mondays. Veterans Day was intended to be moved from Nov. 11 to the fourth Monday in October.

It didn’t work, and in 1975, President Gerald Ford signed another bill that returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to Nov. 11, beginning in 1978. It has remained on that date to this day.

There have been many more wars since the effort began to establish a dedicated Veterans Day. Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf Wars and the war in Afghanistan have left their mark on people and lives.

Veterans make up a significant group in Lake County.

The latest U.S. Census Bureau data shows that they make up nearly 8% of Lake County’s population, and that’s reported to be one of the highest per-capita veteran population rates in California.

That was a reason that helped get a VA Clinic in Clearlake in 2010, thanks to the efforts of many people, among them, Congressman Mike Thompson, himself a Vietnam veteran.

In Lake County, the veterans population includes 12.5% who are women. More than half are 65 and older.

Thirty-seven percent of them have a disability and 16% of them are in poverty, the Census Bureau reported.

The following are additional statistics about veterans provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Did You Know?

15.8 million
The number of military veterans in the United States in 2023, representing 6.1% of the total civilian population age 18 and over.

1.7 million
The number of female veterans in the United States in 2023, representing 10.9% of the total veteran population.

0.6%
The share of veterans in 2023 who served during World War II. Additionally, 3.5% of veterans served during the Korean War; 33.0% during the Vietnam War; 24.8% during the Persian Gulf War; and 28.0% during the Post-9/11 period (September 2001 to present).

8.6%
The percentage of veterans in 2023 who were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). Additionally, 72.2% of veterans were White alone (not Hispanic or Latino); 12.6% Black or African American alone; 2.0% Asian American alone; 0.8% American Indian or Alaska Native alone; 0.2% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander alone; and 2.8% Some Other Race alone. The percentages include only those who reported a single race.

27.9%
The share of veterans 75 and older in 2023. At the other end of the age spectrum, 8.3% of veterans were younger than age 35.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.