ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- Service and sacrifice were the themes at Monday's Veterans Day ceremony in St. Augustine.
With a 21-gun salute, U.S. troops past and present were honored in St. Johns County. The names of local veterans lost were read one by one.
Among the crowd, two World War II veterans who use this holiday as a moment of reflection. "Lucky" Howe, a U.S. Marine Corps vet, said of the day, "Well, it means a lot to me because I lost a lot friends during the war."
U.S. Army vet Tom Grohoski agreed with his friend, saying, "It brings too many memories back."
But those veterans find it important to share those memories so that younger generations remember their sacrifice, and realize freedom is worth fighting for.
Rear Adm. Sinclair Harris said, "I think now, as we come to the end of over a decade of war, it's so important that we try to remember these times. And then reinforce to these young people out there that this is what they're signing up to do."
