The 11th hour

by Joseph Reagan

The 11th hour has become synonymous with Veterans Day, originally called Armistice day, in recognition of the document signed at the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month. In reality, the Armistice ending the war to end all wars was signed around 5 a.m. on Nov. 11. Over the course of the next six hours, nearly 3,000 men would lose their lives in the final hours of a war that had already claimed the lives of 20 million military personnel. The final death of WWI came at 10:59 a.m. one minute before the guns of war would fall silent.

Private Henry Gunther was a German-Ame...