On Veterans Day, soldiers returning from their tour in Afghanistan were reunited with their loved ones in Colorado Springs. The soldiers, who had been serving since February, were met with eager smiling faces at the Fort Carson Special Events Center. The reunion was part of the nationwide celebration of Veterans Day. President Obama, along with the First Lady, Vice President, and his wife Jill, laid a wreath of flowers at Arlington National Cemetery to honor the sacrifice made by veterans and their families.
This was the first Veterans Day since the last U.S. troops left Iraq in December 2011, and a chance to thank the World War II veterans who are now in their 80s and 90s. In Washington, visitors arrived at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to pay tribute to the names on the wall.
In New Orleans, the National World War II Museum held events to celebrate the weekend. Knitters gathered to commemorate the effort of supplying warm clothes to soldiers during World War II. In Bourne, Massachusetts, a ceremony was held at the National Cemetery where flags were planted among the gravestones. The cemetery had previously not allowed flags or flag holders on graves, but that changed after pressure from a father whose son was killed in Afghanistan.
In the Mojave Desert, veterans planned to resurrect a war memorial cross, which was previously the subject of a legal battle over separation of church and state. The Veterans Day Parade took place in New York, with former Mayor Ed Koch as the grand marshal. The parade included the Navajo Code Talkers and collected coat donations for Superstorm Sandy victims. The theme of the parade was ‘United We Stand’, and it marked the 200th anniversary of The War of 1812.
