http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice Veterans Day falls on the anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended World War I on November 11, 1918. Meet several World War I veterans and read their reflections on that momentous occasion. en Copyright 2013, History.com Fri, 24 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT History.com 2013-05-24T04:00:00Z en Copyright 2013, History.com http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo1 Veterans Day falls on the anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended World War I on November 11, 1918. Meet several World War I veterans and read their reflections on that historic occasion. Courtesy of the Library of Congress' Veterans History Project (www.loc.gov/vets). http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo1 http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo2 Infantryman Vincent Reed of Missouri served in France during the war and in Germany during the occupation. He fought in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, which decimated his company, in September 1918. http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo2 http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo3 When the war ended two months later, Reed expressed his relief in his journal: "I could hardly believe that the war was all over and that I would have no more of it to endure. Happy? I was the happiest mortal in the world, I believe." http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo3 http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo4 Born in Russia in 1888, Harry Frieman served in the 313th Machine Gun Company and spent much of the war in the perilous trenches of France. On November 11, 1918, his unit was surrounded by Germans. As they prepared to attack, they were surprised to receive orders to hold back. http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo4 http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo5 Frieman wrote in his journal, "We could hardly believe it until we were told to stop firing at 11 A.M. and not to fire unless they fire. The last shot by both sides were fired exactly at 11 A.M... If the war would have kept up a few hours longer, there would not be many of us left to tell about it." http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo5 http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo6 A 28-year-old surveyor born and raised in Chicago, Sergeant First Class Albert Kleinecke produced military maps during the war and postwar occupation. He was stationed in France when hostilities ended. http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo6 http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo7 On November 12, 1918, Kleinecke wrote to his sister Mary (left) about the previous day's events: "[S]uddenly everything stopped and all was calm. The observer at the #1 sound post reported in by telephone that the Germans got up on top of the trenches and threw their caps in the air." http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo7 http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo8 A company clerk with the 318th Engineers Regiment, Charles Stanley Lamb of Portland, Oregon, was stationed in France and witnessed many horrors in the war's final days. On November 16, 1918, he wrote to his mother, "The last three weeks were terrible and of them I cannot write." http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo8 http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo9 In a letter dated November 20, 1918, Lamb shared his joy about the armistice with his family: "The past month has been a strenuous one and lives in my memory only as a bad dream. Rejoice with me now that it's over... Celebrate to the full and it will cheer me on the way to know you are happy." http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo9 http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo10 Born in West Virginia, Doyen Wardwell left college to join the new Aviation Corps. He served in England and France as a member of the legendary Lafayette Espadrille, making some of the first night flights over the war zone. http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo10 http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo11 In France when the war ended, Wardwell described the scene in a letter to his wife: "It was wonderful. Flags everywhere. People yelling and hugging each other and marching down the street. Bands playing, bells ringing... I was riding a GMS truck and cold as the blue blazes, but happy as a lark." http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo11 http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo12 Minnesota native Archibald Alsop served in a mobile hospital unit sponsored by Yale. The day after the armistice, he wrote to his sister from France: "The cost in lives, material and money has been terrible. For years Europe and the U.S. will feel the strain of the drain, Europe especially." http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo12 http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo13 In the same letter, Alsop recounted, "One fellow said that when it came to eleven o'clock, German trumpets blew and men shouted and cheered. Some of our boys traded money & hats with men who, but a few minutes before, were sighting at them over machine guns." http://www.history.com/photos/veterans-day-remembering-the-armistice/photo13