By Lookout Staff

November 6, 2019 -- Santa Monica will celebrate Veteran's Day on Monday with a ceremony at Palisades Park that includes the traditional posting of colors and the playing of taps.

The ceremony takes place from 9 to 9:30 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial in the park between Santa Monica Boulevard and Arizona Avenue.

The event features remarks from Santa Monica Mayor Gleam Davis and recognizes Veteran's For Peace "for their commitment to honoring and celebrating veterans in Santa Monica and across the nation," City officials said.

Founded in 1985, the group -- which has spread to more than 140 chapters worldwide -- informs the public "of the true causes of war and the enormous costs of wars, with an obligation to heal the wounds of wars," according to its website.

Santa Monica Police Department explorers will post the colors. After taps is played, the ceremony will close with a benediction.

Unlike Memorial Day, which honors those who have died in military service, Veteran's Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans.

The federal holiday commemorates the signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918 that marked the end World War I.

In 1938, Congress made the date a legal holiday known as Armistice Day proclaiming it would be "dedicated to the cause of world peace."

In 1945, World War II veteran Raymond Weeks began lobbying to expand the holiday to celebrate all veterans and led the first annual celebration in 1947 in his native Alabama.

The federal holiday was formally established by Congress in 1954 and has been celebrated as Veteran's Day ever since.