Veterans Day is a special day — a time to honor those who have given much in service of their country. The images, no matter where you go in the U.S., are universal. Young, old, families, even those who may not personally know a veteran or servicemember still in uniform, pause to celebrate these brave men and women.
A color guard from 6th Communications Battalion, Marine Forces Reserve, led a marching detail of 200 Marines in the New York Veteran’s Day parade. (Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Randall A. Clinton via Flickr)
Young and old alike ride a tank during a recent Veterans Day Parade in Santa Barbara, Calif. (Photo by Damian Gadal via Flickr)
Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C., march down Hay Street in the Fayetteville Veterans Day Parade in 2013. (U.S. Army photo by Timothy L. Hale via Flickr)
Montford Point Marine Association Marine veterans marched behind 200 current generation Marines in the New York Veterans Day parade. Montford Point (now Camp Lejeune) was the segregated training grounds for all African-American Marines from 1942 until 1949, while all white recruits attended boot camp in Parris Island, S.C. or San Diego, Calif. (Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Randall A. Clinton via Flickr)
A child of a New York area Coast Guard service member waves the American Flag while marching in New York City's Veterans Day Parade in 2013. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Seaman Robert Harclerode via Flickr)
Albert J. Madden, Sgt. 1st Class, U.S. Army and U.S. Navy Veteran of World War II, play TAPS on his trumpet during the somber ceremony that marked this Veterans Day ceremony in Bourne, Mass. (Photo by Sandra Niedzwiecki/102nd Intelligence Wing via Flickr)
A Navajo code talker and Marine veteran watches the opening ceremony for the New York City Veterans Day parade in 2013. (Official Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Bryan Nygaard via Flickr)
President Barack Obama positions a commemorative wreath during a ceremony on Veterans Day at the "Tomb of the Unknowns" at Arlington National Cemetery on Nov 11, 2013 in Arlington, Va. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. John G. Martinez via Flickr)
U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Sara Bauer, 388th CMS, holds a bunch of American flags during a volunteer opportunity in the snow at the Veterans Memorial Park, Bluffdale, Utah, in 2012. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Tiffany DeNault via Flickr)
Master Sgt. Brian Algeo and Maj. David Watts flatten the American flag hung on the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing headquarters building at Camp Losano at Kandahar Airfield on Nov. 11, 2011. The flag is 25 feet by 40 feet and was placed in honor of Veterans Day. (451st Air Expeditionary Wing Photo by Senior Airman David Carbajal via Flickr)
The U.S. Navy Color Guard from Naval Operational Support Center Port Hueneme leads sailors assigned to the guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) past the historic Arlington Theater during the 2011 Veteran’s Day parade in Santa Barbara, Calif. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Kim McLendon via Flickr)
This Korean War veteran proudly shows his credentials on Veterans Day 2011 in North Charleston, S.C. Over 500 veterans in attendance were honored in a ceremony that day. (Photo by Ryan Johnson via Flickr)
Wisconsin Army National Guard Capt. Brian Barth and more than 100 Soldiers of the 951st "Sapper" Engineer Company, stand at attention during a halftime ceremony at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wis., in a Veterans Day ceremony on Nov. 7, 2010. (Wisconsin National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Jon LaDue via Flickr)
President George W. Bush prepares to lay a memorial wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2004, at Arlington National Cemetery. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class John Gaffney via Flickr)
The holder of this sign celebrates veterans during a recent Veterans Day parade. (By Steven Tom via Flickr)
Spectators say thank you to veterans during the 2011 New York City Veterans Day Parade. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jacob Sippel via Flickr)