WWll Heroes Visit Memorial

Reporting from Washington - On a day when Americans acknowledge the service of veterans past, President Obama today told members of the military currently serving around the world that he will honor their work with a commitment to the "hard work of peace."

Speaking to veterans and their families at a memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery, outside Washington, Obama said modern service members belong in history alongside veterans of "wars whose names have come to define eras."

"We don't mark this day each year as a celebration of victory," Obama said. "We mark this day as a celebration of those who made victory possible.

"That is why we fight" today, the president said. "In hopes of a day when we no longer need to."

The president delivered his first Veterans Day address flanked by top military officials and veterans, after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

The ceremony began at 11 a.m. Eastern, commemorating the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month on which an armistice was signed ending the major actions of World War I in 1918. Congress later established the date as the holiday, which Americans mark today.

This anniversary falls at a time of raw grief for many, as the nation reels from the brutal attack at Ft. Hood in Texas, just a week ago. And U.S. military personnel just marked the bloodiest month in the eight-year war in Afghanistan, where Obama is about to deploy thousands of more Americans in the coming months.

Later today, the president returns to the White House to meet with top advisors, with whom he is working toward a decision on just how many troops to send and how they should be deployed. The decision is likely to come in the aftermath of his trip to Asia that begins on Friday.

This morning, the president was somber as he marked the occasion and the context in which the nation observes it today.

Recalling his visit to Ft. Hood for a memorial service Tuesday, Obama talked about the determination he saw in the survivors of the attack, with an Army psychiatrist suspected of killing 13 and wounding 29 more at the base.

"In this time of war," he said, "we gather here mindful that the generation serving today already deserves a place alongside previous generations for the courage they have shown and sacrifices they have made."

For veterans and their families, the president said, there's "no tribute, no commemoration, no praise" that can match the magnitude of their service and sacrifice.

Future veterans will not suffer the neglect and condemnation that greeted many Vietnam veterans, Obama said.

"When your tour ends," he president said to those now serving, "when you touch our soil, you will be home in an America that's forever here for you just as you were there for us. That's my promise."