LYNCHBURG, Va. – Veterans and supporters gathered Thursday morning for the annual Veterans Day ceremony at Monument Terrace in Downtown Lynchburg.
Air Force veteran Michael Doucette was the keynote speaker and brought a message of duty, honor and country.
He and Steve Bozeman, a Vietnam veteran and organizer of the event, said while the United States is no longer at war, honoring those who serve remains important.
“The significance hasn’t changed at all because the threats are still out there. We may not be on the ground in Afghanistan, or we may have a limited footprint in Iraq, but the threat is out there on a daily basis. We have to be ever vigilant,” said Doucette.
“Right now, we have troops in harm’s way in different areas; but pretty much we are not at war, which I hope we can continue that and not lose any more lives,” said Bozeman.
The Monument Terrace Troop Rally gathers in Lynchburg every Friday at noon. In two weeks, they’ll celebrate the 20th anniversary of when they started their consecutive streak.