President Barack Obama paid tribute at a Veterans Day ceremony Sunday at Arlington National Cemetery to "the heroes over the generations who have served this country of ours with distinction." 
 
 President Barack Obama presents a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery during a Veterans Day ceremony in Arlington, Va., Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012. He is accompanied by Maj. Gen.... (Associated Press) 
 
 President Barack Obama presents a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery during a Veterans Day ceremony in Arlington, Va., Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (Associated Press) 
 
 Early morning sun lights headstones at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Va., as the country commemorates Veterans Day, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012. President Barack Obama is expected to place a wreath... (Associated Press) 
 
 He said the wreath he laid earlier at Tomb of the Unknowns was intended to "remember every service member who has ever worn our nation's uniform." 
 
 In a speech at the Memorial Amphitheater, he said America will never forget the sacrifice made by its veterans and their families. 
 
 "No ceremony or parade, no hug or handshake is enough to truly honor that service," the president said, adding that the country must commit every day "to serving you as well as you've served us." 
 
 He spoke of the Sept. 11 generation, "who stepped forward when the Towers fell, and in the years since have stepped into history, writing one of the greatest chapters in military service our country has ever known. You've toppled a dictator and battled an insurgency in Iraq. You pushed back the Taliban and decimated al-Qaida in Afghanistan. You delivered justice to Osama bin Laden." 
 
 Obama also said this was the first Veterans Day in a decade with no American troops fighting and dying in Iraq, and that a decade of war in Afghanistan is coming to a close. 
 
 Over the next few years, he said, more than 1 million service members will make the transition to civilian life. "As they come home, it falls to us, their fellow citizens, to be there for them and their families, not just now but always." 
 
 Later, the president and his wife, first lady Michelle Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, greeted families in the cemetery's Section 60, home to graves of service members killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. ||||| During a Sunday morning visit to Arlington National Cemetery, President Barack Obama told the nation’s veterans that “we must do more” to support them when they return home. 
 
 “Today, a proud nation expresses our gratitude, but we do so mindful that no ceremony or parade, no hug or handshake is enough to truly honor that service,” Obama said during the Veterans Day observance. “We must commit, this day and every day, to serving you as well as you served us.” 
 
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 The president focused his remarks on the veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a group that will top one million in the next few years. 
 
 “This is the first Veterans Day in a decade in which there are no American troops fighting and dying in Iraq; 33,000 of our troops have now returned from Afghanistan and the transition there is under way,” he said. “As they come home, it falls to us, their fellow citizens, to be there for them and their family.” 
 
 Obama also noted the delayed claims process for benefits and pressed for urgent help and faster treatment, especially for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. 
 
 “No veteran should have to wait months or years for the benefits you’ve earned, so we will continue to attack the claims backlog,” he said. “We won’t let up.” 
 
 Obama placed a wreath at Arlington’s Tomb of the Unknowns. ||||| Laura Youngblood prays over the grave of her husband Travis L. Youngblood at section 60 in Arlington National Cemetery, Monday, May 30, 2011. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) (Associated Press) 
 
 Americans from Washington to California were marking Memorial Day with parades, barbecues and somber moments of reflection in an annual holiday infused with fresh meaning by the approaching 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 
 
 The anniversary was incorporated into the National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, where special tributes were held for the first responders to the attacks and to the relatives of the thousands killed. Actor Gary Sinise, a veterans advocate who played Lt. Dan in the film "Forrest Gump," and Medal of Honor recipients from the Korean and Vietnam wars were among the guests. 
 
 The public holiday recognizes America's war dead, though the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks adds even more meaning for those who were the first to help when the attacks happened. The holiday also comes less than a month after U.S. Navy SEALs shot and killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. 
 
 Sgt. James Patrick McMichael of the Arlington County, Va., sheriff's office was part of a team of first responders to the Pentagon. He said he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder about two years after the attacks and that, even though the looming anniversary was dredging up painful memories, it was still critical that the public remember what occurred. 
 
 A commercial jet crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, killing 184 people at the sprawling Defense Department headquarters. 
 
 "Reliving the event is not something that I look forward to, but I don't think it should be something that's not brought up to the public," said McMichael, who attended the parade in Washington. "I don't think people should forget about what occurred." 
 
 Hamilton Peterson, who lost his father and stepmother aboard United Airlines 93, which crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pa., said the looming anniversary should inspire Americans to be vigilant against future terrorist attacks. 
 
 "Obviously, bin Laden's death is a highlight of the 10th anniversary. However, we recognize that future attacks are imminent and that, absent using 9/11 as a model for how to respond, all Americans need to get involved. It can't just be the military," the 51-year-old said. 
 
 President Barack Obama was participating in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. 
 
 "Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay, but we can honor their sacrifice," Obama said at a Memorial Day service at the cemetery. "And we must." 
 
 Meanwhile, U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan paused to remember the fallen in Memorial Day services, with some praying and holding flag-raising ceremonies to recognize the more than 1,400 who have been killed in combat there since the war began a decade ago. 
 
 President Barack Obama plans to draw down U.S. troops across the border in Afghanistan beginning in July, while NATO has committed to handing over control of security in the country to Afghans by 2014. For now, though, the war continues. 
 
 "We reflect on those who have gone before us. We reflect on their service and their sacrifice on behalf of our great nation," said Brig. Gen. Lewis A. Craparotta, who commands a Marine division in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province. "We should also remember those serving today who embody that same commitment of service and sacrifice. They are committed to something greater than themselves and they muster the physical and moral courage to accomplish extraordinary feats in battle." 
 
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 Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.
– Speaking at the final resting spot of thousands of America's servicemembers, President Obama paid tribute to Veterans Day today with a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns and a vow to do more to take care of those who have served. "No ceremony or parade, no hug or handshake is enough to truly honor that service," Obama said, adding that a grateful nation must commit "to serving you as well as you've served us." Obama spoke with an eye on veterans of more recent wars, notes Politico, particularly the September 11th generation, "who stepped forward when the Towers fell, and in the years since have stepped into history, writing one of the greatest chapters in military service our country has ever known." Vowing to tackle a backlog in veterans' benefits, he said, "as they come home, it falls to us, their fellow citizens, to be there for them and their families, not just now but always."