Southfield Marks Veterans Day, Marines' 240th Birthday

Southfield – The city celebrated Veterans Day a day early — just in time to wish the U.S. Marine Corps a happy birthday.

The city’s annual commemoration fell on the 240th anniversary of the Marines’ founding on Nov. 10, 1775, in the early months of the Revolutionary War.

Mayor Donald Fracassi and his predecessor, U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Southfield, were among the attendees, who included veterans, students and emergency responders.

Members of the city’s police and fire departments joined in a 21-gun salute, and Tyrone Chatman, executive director and CEO of the Michigan Veterans Foundation in Detroit, placed a memorial wreath outside the city offices.

Veterans Day originated as a commemoration of the end of hostilities in World War I on Nov. 11, 1918. It was known as Armistice Day until 1954, when Congress amended an earlier law to make Nov. 11 a day to honor all U.S. war veterans.