the U.S. military, including reenactors from Washington Artillery of New Orleans. Volunteers collected letters for U.S. troops, and Naval Base Ventura County construction battalion vehicles were on display.

Remembering the horrors that faced the armed forces, the keynote speaker was U.S. Marine Chief Warrant Officer-4 Randy Gaddo (Ret.). In October 1983, Gaddo was in Beirut with the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit as part of a multination peacekeeping force when terrorists drove a truck bomb into the U.S. barracks, killing 240 U.S. servicemen. According to the institute, “Being one of the lucky ones to not be hurt, he was part of the crew who helped look for survivors, clean up the bomb site, and retrieve the fallen.”

Azusa, Alhambra, Baldwin Park, Carson, Cerritos, Monterey Park, Norwalk, Pasadena, Palmdale, Whittier and Santa Clarita were among the myriad Los Angeles County cities scheduling Veterans Day ceremonies.

West Hollywood’s Veterans Day ceremony has a special focus on LGBTQ veterans. Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Lindsey Horvath was scheduled to speak about the county’s “unwavering commitment to our veteran community,” her director of communications Constance Farrell said.

Veterans and active military members got free meals and ride tickets to Pacific Park at the Veterans Day ceremony on the Santa Monica Pier, which will include a military flyover with Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters and a demonstration by the United States Military Academy at West Point Drill Team.

“Thursday Night Football” pregame analyst Andrew Whitworth was scheduled to join fellow former NFL players Cade McNown and Donnie Edwards in leading a military convoy with Army vehicles from the California Army National Guard.

Forest Lawn’s 65th annual Veterans Day Celebration launched at 11 a.m. at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills and include a flyover, patriotic music, an invocation and benediction, a color guard, a wreath laying and family friendly activities.

The Queen Mary in Long Beach hosted an exclusive free celebration for veterans, active-duty military personnel and their families. The celebration included the opportunity to write letters to active-duty military personnel, arts and crafts making and veterans sharing inspiring stories. Also in Long Beach, a Veterans Day event was scheduled at the Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center, featuring food, vendors, a car show and music.

The Rams’ Salute to Service matchup against the Miami Dolphins at SoFi Stadium was scheduled to include a pregame performance by the United States Military Academy at West Point Drill Team, quarterback Matthew Stafford and his wife, Kelly, hosting 20 Navy SEALs and their guests in the team’s Row of Honor, a military enlistment ceremony and six military representatives, one from each branch, was scheduled to be the honorary Rampede captain.

Veterans Day has its roots in a proclamation issued by President Woodrow Wilson in November 1919, a year after World War I ended, designating Nov. 11 as Armistice Day.

States soon started declaring Nov. 11 a legal holiday. Congress made it a federal holiday in 1938, dedicated to the cause of world peace.

In 1954, following World War II and the Korean War, Congress, at the urging of veterans service organizations, passed a law renaming Armistice Day to Veterans Day. From 1971-77, Veterans Day was held in late October. A 1975 law returned it to Nov. 11, beginning in 1978.

In his Veterans Day proclamation, President Joe Biden declared, “Each one of our nation’s veterans is a link in a chain of honor that stretches back to our founding days — bound by a sacred oath to support and defend the United States of America.

“Throughout history, whenever and wherever the forces of darkness have sought to extinguish the flame of freedom, America’s veterans have been fighting to keep it burning bright. I remember so clearly the pride the first lady and I felt in our son Beau during his service in Iraq. He — like all our veterans from Belleau Wood, Baghdad, and Gettysburg to Guadalcanal, Korea, and Kandahar and beyond — lived, served, and sacrificed by a creed of duty.

“We owe them a debt of gratitude we can never fully repay, not just for fighting for our democracy, but for giving back to our communities and inspiring the next generation to serve, even after they hang up their uniforms.”

City News Service and staff writers Tyler Evains, Kristy Hutchings and Anissa Rivera contributed to this report.