We take a moment today to thank all veterans around the world for your service to your country, and to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

The first shot in what was supposed to be the “war to end all wars” was fired 100 years ago this year, and yet this Veterans’ Day (celebrated as Armistice Day outside the US), we find the men and women from armed forces of many countries still deployed to the world’s trouble spots — from the mountains of Afghanistan to the skies above Syria and Iraq to Liberia and Sierra Leone, as well as those who watch over the homeland.    Since the day commemorating that first shot (August 5, 2014), the dry moat surrounding the Tower of London has been progressively turned into a sea of poppies — one ceramic poppy at a time — commemorating each of 888,246 British and Colonial soldiers lost during World War I.

It is a stunning display.    To see a slide show, go here.

Thank you for your service one and all.