A crowd in the hundreds gathered at the Veterans Memorial in Fountain Park Wednesday morning to pay tribute to U.S. military veterans living as well as those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

The keynote speaker was SSgt. Jason Bedore, USA (ret.). He and his wife, Samantha, are both Army veterans of the Iraq War. He served five tours of duty, received two purple hearts and numerous other decorations for his service. Bedore has had five surgeries to reconstruct his knee.

Veterans are fighting a battle at home to prevent suicide, Bedore said. He noted that he and his wife are losing comrades they served with on an average of one person every two weeks.

Bedore urged veterans to reach out to their fellow veterans on a regular basis, talk to them and they might prevent a suicide.

The ceremony also featured remarks from the commanders of the three local veterans organizations as well as a fly-over of bi-planes.