COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. --Central Virginians gathered Saturday to honor those who served at numerous Veterans Day events across the area.
American Legion Post 284 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2239 held a joint Veterans Day ceremony Saturday morning the War Memorial on the Boulevard in Colonial Heights..
Veterans Day, which is now celebrated to remember all American veterans living or dead, was originally derived from the armistice signed in France to end WWI at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918.
Lt. Colonel Thierry Balga, a French Army officer currently serves as a liaison at Fort Lee, was the ceremony’s guest speaker.
“According to me, it's very important because I'm used to working with U.S. troops and we are having the same kind of ceremony in France, so it's makes a liaison between the U.S. Army and the French Army," Balga said.
The service also featured third graders from Tussing Elementary singing a patriotic song written by their teacher, Michael Sauders.
The Virginia War Memorial partnered with the City of Richmond for a Veterans Day ceremony at Dogwood Dell to acknowledge both active duty and former service members.
The state secretary of veterans and defense affairs and state lawmakers attended the event.
The student winners of the Virginia War Memorial‘s essay contest also got the chance to read their stories to the crowd.
