Take CFIF’s 21-Question Veterans Day Quiz and test your knowledge of the brave men and women who defend our freedoms.

(Answer key may be found at the bottom)

1. Veterans Day is celebrated annually on November 11th for which one of the following reasons?

a. The Treaty of Versailles was signed on that date
b. The WWI armistice occurred on that date
c. The American Revolution ended on that date
d. Pearl Harbor was attacked on that date

2. Which of the following is the highest military decoration which can be awarded an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States?

a. Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard Cross
b. Distinguished Service Medal
c. Medal of Honor
d. Silver Star

3. Which one of the following is the oldest military decoration in the world in present use?

a. Croix de Guerre
b. Order of the British Empire
c. Legion of Merit
d. Purple Heart

4. Which one of the following ships holds the distinction of being the oldest commissioned warship in the U.S. Navy?

a. USS Constellation
b. USS Constitution
c. USS Independence
d. USS Kitty Hawk

5. What is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the U.S.?

a. Fort Monroe, Hampton, Virginia
b. Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, New York
c. U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York
d. U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland

6. Until 1947, the U.S. Air Force had been most closely associated with which one of the following service branches?

a. U.S. Army
b. U.S. Navy
d. U.S. Coast Guard
d. U.S. Marine Corps

7. How was U.S. Marine Band, also known as “The President’s Own,” established?

a. Act of Congress
b. Marine Corps Regulation
c. Presidential Executive Order
d. Request made by civilian musicians

8. “Semper Paratus” (Always Ready), is the motto of which one of the following services?

a. U.S. Marine Corps
b. U.S. Coast Guard
c. U.S. Army
d. U.S. Navy

9. In which one of the following years was the first Army-Navy game played?

a. 1789
b. 1890
c. 1900
d. 1917

10. The third Saturday in May is set aside annually in observance of which one of the following?

a. Armed Forces Day
b. Flag Day
c. Memorial Day
d. Veterans Day

11. The Friday before Mother’s Day is traditionally recognized as which one of the following?

a. Armed Forces Day
b. Memorial Day
c. Military Spouse Appreciation Day
d. V-E Day

12. The observance of which one of the following federal holidays was restored, by law, to its original date of observance, having briefly been included in the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968?

a. Columbus Day
b. Memorial Day
c. Veterans Day
d. Washington’s Birthday

13. In which one of the following years did Congress pass its first Declaration of War?

a. 1776 
b. 1812
c. 1917
d. 1941

14. Congress created the U.S. Department of Defense in the aftermath of which one of the following?

a. The Revolutionary War
b. The War of 1812
c. World War I
d. World War II

15. Which one of the following was the first federally authorized housing and medical facility for disabled U.S. veterans?

a. The Naval Home
b. The Soldiers’ Home
c. St. Elizabeth’s Hospital
d. Walter Reed Army Medical Center

16. Which U.S. President signed legislation to establish the Department of Veterans Affairs as a cabinet agency?

a. Herbert Hoover
b. Jimmy Carter
c. Ronald Reagan
d. George H.W. Bush

17. The largest-ever helicopter evacuation took place during which of the following conflicts?

a. Korea
b. Vietnam
c. Gulf War I
d. World War II

18. Which one of the following U.S. Presidents both served on an aircraft carrier and had one named after him?

a. John F. Kennedy
b. Ronald Reagan
c. George H.W. Bush
d. Harry S. Truman

19. Which one of the following U.S. Cabinet Secretaries tendered his resignation, claiming hopeless disagreement with the President with regard to national defense strategies?

a. Jefferson Davis
b. Lindley M. Garrison
c. Donald Rumsfeld
d. Henry L. Stimson

20. America's first international conflict following the War of American Independence took place against which one of the following?

a. Barbary States
b. Great Britain
c. Canada
d. Spain

21. Which one of the following patriots from the American Revolution is credited with stating, “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death?”

a. Patrick Henry
b. Nathaniel Greene
c. Nathan Hale
d. Paul Revere

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“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance” — President Thomas Jefferson

Answers:  1(b); 2(c); 3(d); 4(b); 5(c); 6(a); 7(a); 8(b); 9(b); 10(a); 11(c); 12(c); 13(b); 14(d); 15(a); 16(c); 17(b); 18(c) 19(b); 20(a); 21(a)