Veterans Day Jeopardy

The armistice of 1918, the six military branches, memorials, medals and notable veterans on one November board. Free to copy, played with phone buzzers.

6 categories · 30 clues · Final Jeopardy · everyone buzzes in from their phone

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Every clue on this board

This page is public, so anyone can read the answers — copy the board and swap a few clues before game day.

Origins of the Day

$200
Veterans Day is observed on this date every year, no matter which day of the week it falls on.
What is November 11?
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Before Congress renamed it in 1954, Veterans Day was known by this name.
What is Armistice Day?
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The armistice first commemorated on November 11 ended the fighting in this war.
What is World War I?
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In 1954 this president, a former five-star general, signed the bill that renamed the holiday Veterans Day.
Who is Dwight D. Eisenhower?
$1,000
From 1971 to 1977 Veterans Day was moved to the fourth Monday of this month, before returning to November 11 in 1978.
What is October?

Branches of Service

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The oldest branch of the US military, this service traces its founding to June 14, 1775.
What is the Army?
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Members of this branch have long been nicknamed leathernecks and devil dogs.
What is the Marine Corps?
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Established in December 2019, this is the newest branch of the US armed forces.
What is the Space Force?
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This branch, whose motto is Semper Paratus, sits within the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime.
What is the Coast Guard?
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This branch became a separate service from the Army under the National Security Act of 1947.
What is the Air Force?

Memorials and Monuments

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Designed by Maya Lin, this black granite wall in Washington, D.C., lists the names of more than 58,000 Americans.
What is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial?
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Hundreds of thousands of service members and their families are buried at this cemetery across the Potomac from Washington.
What is Arlington National Cemetery?
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Sentinels have kept watch over this Arlington monument 24 hours a day, in all weather, since 1937.
What is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier?
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Nineteen stainless steel statues of soldiers on patrol stand in the National Mall memorial to this war.
What is the Korean War?
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This memorial in Pearl Harbor straddles the sunken hull of a battleship lost on December 7, 1941.
What is the USS Arizona Memorial?

Honors and Medals

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Shaped like a heart and bearing George Washington's profile, this medal goes to service members wounded or killed in action.
What is the Purple Heart?
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The highest US military decoration for valor, it is presented by the president in the name of Congress.
What is the Medal of Honor?
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This decoration ranks as the third-highest US military award for valor in combat.
What is the Silver Star?
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This Civil War surgeon is the only woman ever awarded the Medal of Honor.
Who is Mary Edwards Walker?
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George Washington created this award in 1782, and it is considered the forerunner of the Purple Heart.
What is the Badge of Military Merit?

Symbols and Traditions

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Worn on lapels to remember the fallen, this red flower grew across the battlefields of the Western Front.
What is the poppy?
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Unlike Veterans Day, this late-May holiday specifically honors those who died in military service.
What is Memorial Day?
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Canadian army doctor John McCrae wrote this 1915 poem about poppies growing between the crosses, row on row.
What is In Flanders Fields?
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This 24-note bugle call is played at military funerals and at the end of the day on bases.
What is Taps?
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In Canada, November 11 is a national day of commemoration known by this name.
What is Remembrance Day?

Veterans in History

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Before he became the first US president, this veteran commanded the Continental Army.
Who is George Washington?
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The G.I. Bill of 1944 helped millions of veterans of this war go to college and buy homes.
What is World War II?
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This federal department, raised to Cabinet level in 1989, provides health care and benefits to former service members.
What is the Department of Veterans Affairs?
$800
These Navajo Marines sent World War II messages in a code built on their own language that was never broken.
Who are the Navajo Code Talkers?
$1,000
These Black World War II pilots trained at an airfield in Alabama and flew escort missions for bombers over Europe.
Who are the Tuskegee Airmen?

Final Jeopardy — The Armistice

The armistice that Veterans Day remembers took effect at this time of day on November 11, 1918, ending the fighting on the Western Front.

What is 11 a.m.?

How to run this board

Veterans Day tends to get a morning announcement and not much else, and this board gives it a class period that sticks. Categories cover how Armistice Day became Veterans Day, the six branches of the armed forces, the memorials in Washington and Arlington, military honors, the symbols and traditions of remembrance, and veterans who changed history.

The Symbols and Traditions column is a good place to settle the question students mix up most: Veterans Day thanks everyone who served, while Memorial Day honors those who died in service. If a veteran is visiting the class, hand them the Final Jeopardy reveal.

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