The Sitka National Cemetary on Veterans Day, 2014. (photo by Mike Hicks)

The Sitka National Cemetery on Veterans Day, 2014. (photo by Mike Hicks)

Veterans Day began almost a century ago as Armistice Day. It marked the end of hostilities in World War I, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month: Nov. 11, 1918. The name changed with its purpose, as a day originally marking the end of the “war to end all wars,” expanded to honor those who have fought in the many wars since.

The Sitka National Cemetery has a history older than Veterans Day itself: it dates back to the late 1800s, when it was first established to bury military personnel serving at the local U.S. Navy base.