What's Closed, Discounts, Deals For Veterans Day In Salem

SALEM, MA — Salem municipal buildings, schools and libraries will be closed for Veterans Day on Thursday.

Trash collection for residents who have pickups on Thursday and Friday will have that pickup delayed one day.

Most retail businesses are open for their regular hours.

The commuter rail runs on a regular Thursday schedule.

The Salem Veterans Day ceremony will include the dedication of the new monument in honor of U.S. Army Nurse Corps 1st Lieutenant Catherine Larkin.

A host of stores and restaurants across the North Shore are offering discounts and freebies to service members.

Here's a list of local spots to get those discounts. If you're a business owner offering something to veterans this year, email scott.souza@patch.com.

• 110 Grill — Free lunch entrée for active-duty members or veterans.
• East Regiment Beer Co. — Free slice of pizza to active duty servicemen and veterans at its taproom at 30 Church Street, Salem.
• 7-Eleven — Free coffee or Big Gulp for veterans by downloading store app. Multiple locations.
• Applebee's — Free meal from a select menu for veterans and active-duty members.
• Outback Steakhouse — Free blooming onion and soda.
• Dunkin' — Free donut for veterans. Multiple locations.
• Starbucks — Free 12-ounce (tall) hot coffee for veterans, active-duty members and spouses. Multiple locations.
• Buffalo Wild Wings — Free side of wings for veterans.
• Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub — Free entrée for veterans between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Veterans Day.
• Wendy's — Free small breakfast combo with military ID. Multiple locations.
• IHOP — Free red, white and blue pancakes during restaurant hours.
• Planet Fitness — Veterans can work out for free at Massachusetts gyms through Nov. 15.

Veterans Day, commemorated annually on Nov. 11, was first celebrated in 1919 to honor those who fought in World War I. It was initially called Armistice Day and was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.

The holiday’s origin is tied to the armistice, a temporary end of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany signed in France on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

It became Veterans Day in 1954, shortly following the end of the Korean War and less than a decade after World War II, after various veterans service organizations urged Congress to encompass veterans of all wars in their honor.