A crowd of almost entirely all Veterans gathered in Eden Park Tuesday morning for the annual Veterans Day ceremony at the Vietnam Memorial.
The guest speaker was retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Lou Sand.
"To be asked to participate in this ceremony," says Sand, "which is a long standing tradition here in the park meant a lot to me because I'm currently an employee of the park."
Sand served in Haiti, Bosnia, and twice in Afghanistan before retiring in 2012 after 30 years. He also earned a Bronze Star.
He recounted the story of a young man, Zach, under his command who was wounded in battle in Afghanistan and despite his injuries was resolute in wanting to return to the battlefield and his fellow soldiers.
"You know the most important thing about being a veteran is, and I really believe this, about how much of a privilege it is to serve your country and it's because of people like Zach. Young people that have, in today's all volunteered army, they volunteered to serve their country and to be able to lead them in combat is quite an honor. I just want to let people know how special people like Zach are."
