(Photo: AP Images / Craig Ruttle)Members of The Ground Zero Flag parade unit tote a Ground Zero flag along 5th Ave. during the Veteran's Day Parade in New York, N.Y. Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007.
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NEW YORK – Cities nationwide remembered veterans of the U.S. armed forces whose sacrifices continue to live on in the freedom enjoyed by many Americans today.
While the national holiday is officially recognized Monday, Veteran’s Day was observed Sunday on Nov. 11, the day which marked the end of World War I.
“We are enjoying the rights our Founding Fathers gave us largely because of the sacrifices our veterans and those who are no longer with us made,” U.S. Rep. Ken Hechler (D-W.Va.) told a crowd of veterans and active duty soldiers at a ceremony hosted by Kansas University’s Dole Institute of Politics, according to the Lawrence Journal-World.
Though varying in location and size of attendance, many ceremonies honored veterans with traditions very much like those at the New York Veterans Day Parade, which included wreath-laying ceremony, the playing of "Taps" and a 21-rifle salute.
At the 88th annual Veterans Day Parade attended by 20,000 participants, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg thanked the sacrifice of local heroes.
"You should know that 70 New Yorkers have given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we owe them more than we can ever say,” he said.
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In Washington, Former Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke to mourners gathered at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which marked its 25th anniversary.
Vice President Dick Cheney delivered a speech at the Arlington National Cemetery paying tribute to soldiers from World War I to "the current fight against terrorism" who have served their country valiantly and "kept us free at the land we call home."
"Free to live as we see fit, free to work, worship, speak our minds, to choose our own leaders," he said. "May the rest of us never take them for granted."
While the holiday helped the nation express gratitude to former military members, it also highlighted the homelessness problem suffered by many returning vets.
Some veterans, like Herold Noel, 28, of the Bronx in New York, are angry over the lack of support for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Herold said he felt abandoned after returning from Iraq in December 2003 and became homeless for several months.
"This is the only day I feel that they appreciate vets in New York," Noel told Newsday. "You have a lot of vets sleeping on the streets. A lot of vets commit suicide, because what they fought for, they don't come home to."
In the United States, homeless people make up 11 percent of the adult population, and one out of every four homeless people are veterans, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
Last week during his weekly radio address, President Bush urged Democratic leaders to celebrate Veterans Day by passing a spending bill to cover healthcare and housing programs for veterans. Legislators will tackle the issue when Congress returns Tuesday.
Veterans Day was first celebrated in the United States in 1919 to honor those who served in World War I. It was then called Armistice Day, marking the truce that ended the war on November 11, 1918.
