Veteran's Day Message from Secretary of Defense: Eighty-three years ago, an armistice was signed between the Allies and the Central Powers. As the guns of both the victors and the vanquished fell silent, World War I -- "The War to End All Wars" -- slipped into history. For the next twenty years, "Armistice Day" was celebrated with parades and speeches, simple ceremonies and sacred observances. For many years, buglers played "Taps" at 11 o'clock at the main intersections of towns across America or the village greens -- I was one of them. And for two minutes, all the traffic and daily transactions ceased as citizens stopped to honor those who had fallen in the defense of liberty.