Veterans Day brought a small but meaningful gathering to the William Crawford Memorial overlooking Palmer Lake, where the American Legion Tri-Lakes Post hosted its annual ceremony.The event drew roughly 28 to 29 people, "We've h ad as many, as low as ten people, but we still just carry forward," commented Michael Christensen, commander of the American Legion Tri-Lakes Post and retired lieutenant colonel in the Air Force.The ceremony included traditional programming: the Star-Spangled Banner and a guest speaker; however, organizers say the most important part comes at the end."At the end, we pass the microphone around and let them express their thoughts and feelings," Christensen said."And every veteran has a story," stated William Miller, a veteran and American Legion member.This year, one veteran outside of the organizers took the microphone."Any time I have a moment, I'm going to say something to honor my fellow veterans especially," commented Yve Denison, a veteran who served in the Marine Corps.For organizers, the number of speakers like the number of attendees is not the point. What matters is the space created for veterans to speak."It's pent up inside them, and they want to speak out and let it be known that we all share and understand those feelings that they may have," an organizer said. "It's all valuable, and it's meaningful to veterans on veterans, with veterans."The ceremony lasted around 20 minutes. The time after lasted longer, as veterans lingered and talked among themselves."I know you can look over your shoulder and see because they're talking," Miller said. "They rekindle their friendships, go their own ways after today, but every year we get together and rekindle our thoughts and appreciation for one another."This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy._______Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching. ...read more read less