Color guards stand at attention during wreath laying ceremony at the U.S. Navy Memorial on Tuesday. (Photos by CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)
Washington (CNSNews.com) – People of all ages celebrated Veterans Day by attending a wreath laying ceremony at the U.S. Navy Memorial on Tuesday - an event that included music by members of the U.S. Navy Band, presentation of the colors, and the laying of a wreath at the feet of the sculpture of the “Lone Soldier” in the memorial plaza.
 
“I believe in the U.S. military, and I believe in our country and what we stand for and our values,” Jacquelin Edlow told CNSNews.com. “I wish all Americans would unite behind our military.”
 
Edlow was one of a small group of veterans and others at the ceremony who fought or lived through World War II.


Donald Burden, 74, served as a Torpedoman First Class in the U.S. Navy. (Photos by CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)
“I remember being with my parents,” Edlow said. “I was a small child. I remember a cousin of ours called up, and it was early in the morning on a hot summer day, no air conditioning. I remember my dad saying, ‘Cousin Bessie called, the war is over,’ and everyone was so happy.”

Five-year-old Adam Sherinian was touring D.C. memorials with his dad, Aaron, and his younger sister.

“Veterans are some men from the Navy,” Adam said. “They are men who had to fight a war.”

“We have been talking a lot about war,” Aaron Sherinian told CNSNews.com. “My son Adam had a lot of questions about wars, what they do and what they don’t do. We’ve looked at the names of people who died in wars and how we are going to work so that we don’t have to have them.”

Another parent of two young daughters, however, said she wanted to teach her children that Veterans Day is more than a day off from work.


The colors were presented at a wreath laying ceremony at the U.S. Navy Memorial on Tuesday. (Photos by CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)
“Just appreciation for people who work to keep our country free for us,” Stacey Wade told CNSNews.com. “It’s a day we can remember and thank them.”

The modern United States Navy has more than 333,000 active members and 124,000 reservists. The Navy’s roots date back to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolution and became a permanent fighting force when Congress passed the Naval Act of 1794.

Today in history, November 11
1918 - Armistice ends World War I
1920 - Lenah S. Higbee is first woman to be awarded the Navy Cross.
1954 - November 11 designated as Veterans Day to honor veterans of all U.S. wars.