#Countdown to Veterans Day 2015 raises awareness of veterans' issues, reminds us of the 5 million Americans who served in WWI

By Chris Isleib
Director of Public Affairs, U.S. World War One Centennial Commission

This message is a thank you for everyone who helped with the #CountdownToVeteransDay effort.

We at the World War One Centennial Commission believe that one day a year is not enough to talk about veterans issues & veterans needs. So, we decided to do something about it.

Seven weeks ago, our office started the #CountdownToVeteransDay hashtag, to tell the veterans story.

We asked you, and other members of the veteran/military community to join us - to post/repost veteran facts, links, and thank you's. With your collective help, this simple effort grew and grew. In two weeks, we created a countdowntoveteransday.org website, to collect veteran-themed volunteer opportunities. The effort continued to grow.

As of November 13, the #CountdownToVeteransDay hashtag had registered over 36 million impressions, and the website has listed over 60 veterans organizations with volunteer opportunities. The collective help that you provided made a direct impact on the awareness of veterans issues.

This momentum can continue. The U.S. World War One Centennial Commission was created by Congress to remember a special group of veterans -- the 5 million Americans who served during World War One.

We invite you to visit to our website, http://www.worldwar1centennial.org/ , follow our social media efforts, https://www.facebook.com/ww1centennial and @WW1CC on Twitter. Get involved with the World War I centennial commemoration community. Learn about these special Americans. Help us to tell their stories.

Your simple reposts and retweets can help preserve the legacy of those veterans of World War One -- just as your efforts helped our veterans today.