CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Ever since the end of World War One, on this day back in 1918, the nation has paused every year to honor military vets.
They did so in Chesapeake, with a formal ceremony at City Hall.
Navy veteran Tory Ward was more than happy to be there because, he said, Veterans Day has great meaning to him.
"Just being able to reflect back and know that people appreciate you, things that you've done, sacrificed for your country," he said.
And while ceremonies like the one in Chesapeake are great, are they enough?
Consider the persistent problem of wait times at the Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers.
In Virginia, for primary care at the Hampton VA, the wait is currently 42 days, the third-worst of the state's 22 VA facilities behind the Chesapeake VA clinic's 50 days, and the Virginia Beach VA clinic's 51 days.
"We're optimistic, but we have to get the wait times down, the quality up," said Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va., 3rd District). "There's a lot of vacancies over there that need to be filled. So it's a lot of work that needs to be done."
Then, there are the troubling statistics on veteran suicides.
The VA's own report this year shows that 6,139 vets died by suicide in 2017. That is up from 6,010 the year before.
The report notes that the suicide rate for veterans was 1.5 times the rate for non-veteran adults.
Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) said action is needed now.
"VA and Congress policy-makers have to train more mental health providers," he said. " If you look at surveys, set aside the whole veterans question, just look at the surveys of what are the professions in the United States where we're not training enough people? Mental health service provision is one of the areas where we're not training enough people."
More money is on the way. President Donald J.Trump signed a record $201 billion funding bill for the VA this year, and Congress has appropriated $220 billion for next year.