Meridian and Lauderdale County residents marked Veterans Day on Monday with a special event in downtown Meridian. Held at the doughboy monument on 23rd Avenue across from city hall, the annual event is held as a way for the community to recognize local veterans and thank them for their service.

Robbie Atkinson, who served as master of ceremonies for Monday’s event, said Veterans Day is just one day per year, but veterans make sacrifices for their country year round.

“Your sacrifice rings proud and clear, and tomorrow will come, but we understand you give more than one day of the year,” he said. “Today is that day on the calendar, but I think every day should be Veterans Day.”

Americans enjoy freedoms and liberties that many around the world do not get to experience, Atkinson said, and veterans, past and present, volunteered to give their lives to ensure those freedoms for others.

“To every man and woman that’s here today that signed that line to serve our country, we say thank you,” Atkinson said. “To the families we say thank you.”

Veterans Day, which is held annually on Nov. 11, originally started as Armistice Day, marking the end of World War 1. It was declared a national holiday by Congress in 1938, and in 1954, Congress voted to change Armistice Day to Veterans Day, recognizing service members of all conflicts.

Capt. Juston Kutch, commodore of Training Air Wing One at Naval Air Station Meridian and guest speaker for Monday’s event, said America’s veterans have been serving their country since before there was a country to serve. Veterans came before the constitution, the presidency and even the Declaration of Independence, he said.

The doughboy monument, where Monday’s event was held, was erected in 1917 in memory of Lauderdale County veterans who served in World War 1, Kutch said. While advances in technology have made modern warfare much different than what the doughboys experienced serving in trenches, the drive and determination of the nation’s veterans remains the same.

“The business of warfare has become more sophisticated, but the one military asset that has not changed is the character and resourcefulness of America’s men and women in uniform,” he said. “General Patton, who, as it happens, was born on Nov. 11, said, ‘Wars may be fought by weapons, but they are won by men.’”

Every service member accepts that there is a level of risk in choosing military service, Kutch said, and even those who serve during times of peace or in non-combat roles must navigate dangerous situations. Those serving in the U.S. armed forces understand that risk and choose to do the job anyway.

“In truth, our veterans are the very embodiment of America itself. They are the composite of our nation, and they make up all that is great about this nation,” he said. “They represent the finest men and women that America has to offer, and their time in uniform represents a defining moment in their lives.”