Residents and staff watch during a socially-distanced Veterans Day ceremony at the Southern Nevada State Veterans Home, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Boulder City, Nev. The special outdoor ceremony was held with face coverings and distancing as a precaution against the coronavirus. (AP Photo/John Locher)
President-elect Joe Biden and Jill Biden, attend a service at the Philadelphia Korean War Memorial at Penn's Landing on Veterans Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A couple walks among graves at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery on Veterans Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
President-elect Joe Biden stands with his hand over his heart before placing a wreath at the Philadelphia Korean War Memorial at Penn's Landing, on Veterans Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump participates in a Veterans Day wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Members of the Hagerstown Civil Air Patrol Color Guard carry the American flag after a ceremonial folding during the Veterans Day commemoration Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in front of Washington County Court House in Hagerstown, Md. (Colleen McGrath/The Herald-Mail via AP)
Retired U.S.Army veteran Bill MacCully walks among flag-covered graves in the Veterans Cemetery of Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park on Veterans Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
The lawn of Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall is decorated with American flags for the "Fill the Hill" tribute in honor of Veterans Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Pittsburgh. The flags and luminaries lining the path were sponsored by people from all over the country wanting to honor the veterans in their lives. (Alexandra Wimley/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)
Rev. Donald Meeks, 68, of Matteson, the state chaplain of the Illinois VFW who enlisted at 17 years old and served for 21 years in the U.S. Navy, salutes for the Pledge of Allegiance during the ribbon cutting of the new Chicago Veterans' Home on the Northwest Side in celebration of Veterans Day, Wednesday morning, Nov. 11, 2020. (Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Army ROTC cadet Nathan Eisenhower plays "Taps" during a University of Idaho Veterans Day ceremony on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Moscow, Idaho. (Geoff Crimmins/The Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP)
A member of Niles VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) Post 3579 attends an annual Veterans Day ceremony at the Veterans Memorial Waterfall in Niles, Ill., Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
George McMenemy, 72, walks through the field of honour for fallen Canadian military war veterans at the Woodland Cemetery on Remembrance Day during the COVID-19 pandemic in Burlington, Ontario, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Americans gathered Wednesday to commemorate the 66th annual Veterans Day, a holiday originally named Armistice Day to mark a Nov. 11, 1918 ceasefire agreement signing in World War I, until President Dwight Eisenhower changed it in 1954.
Across the country, leaders and civilians honored those who lost their lives fighting America’s wars, practicing social distancing and wearing face coverings as they did.
In Philadelphia, President-elect Joe Biden attended a service at the Korean War Memorial at Penn’s Landing with his wife Jill.
A little more than 140 miles away, President Donald Trump participated in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.
Locally, members of the U.S. Coast Guard took part in a Veterans Day Ceremony onboard the USS Hornet in Alameda:
ALAMEDA, CA - NOVEMBER 11: Retired U.S. Navy Chaplin Wallace Whatley, left, takes part in a Veterans Day Ceremony onboard the USS Hornet on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Alameda, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
ALAMEDA, CA - NOVEMBER 11: A wreath is photographed in the water of the San Francisco Bay during a Veterans Day Ceremony onboard the USS Hornet on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Alameda, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
ALAMEDA, CA - NOVEMBER 11: Guests take part in a Veterans Day Ceremony onboard the USS Hornet on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Alameda, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
ALAMEDA, CA - NOVEMBER 11: Members of the U.S. Coast Guard take part in a Veterans Day Ceremony onboard the USS Hornet on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Alameda, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
ALAMEDA, CA - NOVEMBER 11: Members of the U.S. Coast Guard, center, present the colors during a Veterans Day Ceremony onboard the USS Hornet on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, in Alameda, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
Days earlier, the remains of Marine Corps Reserve Pvt. Howard E. Miller were carried to his gravesite at Skyline Memorial Park in San Mateo. The San Mateo native was killed 75 years ago in World War II. His remains were recently re-discovered in the South Pacific where he fell fighting. Back then, his comrades lowered the 22-year-old private first class into an unmarked grave on Betio, a little-known island that’s part of the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands.
SAN MATEO, CA - NOVEMBER 6: Charmaine Rush, walks with her son Barry Rush (right) to an interment ceremony for her brother Marine Corps Reserve Pvt. Howard E. Miller, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, at Skyline Memorial Park in San Mateo, Calif. The San Mateo native was killed 75 years ago in World War II and his remains were recently re-discovered in the South Pacific where he fell fighting. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
SAN MATEO, CA - NOVEMBER 6: A hearse carries the remains of Marine Corps Reserve Pvt. Howard E. Miller, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, to his gravesite at Skyline Memorial Park in San Mateo, Calif. The San Mateo native was killed 75 years ago in World War II and his remains were recently re-discovered in the South Pacific where he fell fighting. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
SAN MATEO, CA - NOVEMBER 6: Marines stand at attention as the remains of Marine Corps Reserve Pvt. Howard E. Miller are carried, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, to his gravesite at Skylawn Memorial Park in San Mateo, Calif. The San Mateo native's remains were recently re-discovered in the South Pacific where he fell fighting 75 years ago in World War II. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
SAN MATEO, CA - NOVEMBER 6: The remains of Marine Corps Reserve Pvt. Howard E. Miller are carried, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, to his gravesite at Skyline Memorial Park in San Mateo, Calif. The San Mateo native was killed 75 years ago in World War II and his remains were recently re-discovered in the South Pacific where he fell fighting. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
SAN MATEO, CA - NOVEMBER 6: The remains of Marine Corps Reserve Pvt. Howard E. Miller are carried, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, to his gravesite at Skyline Memorial Park in San Mateo, Calif. The San Mateo native was killed 75 years ago in World War II and his remains were recently re-discovered in the South Pacific where he fell fighting. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
SAN MATEO, CA - NOVEMBER 6: A portrait of Marine Corps Reserve Pvt. Howard E. Miller is placed at an interment ceremony, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, at Skylawn Memorial Park in San Mateo, Calif. The San Mateo native's remains were recently re-discovered in the South Pacific where he died 75 years ago fighting in World War II. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
SAN MATEO, CA - NOVEMBER 6: Charmaine Rush sits with her son Barry Rush during an interment ceremony for her brother Marine Corps Reserve Pvt. Howard E. Miller, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, at Skyline Memorial Park in San Mateo, Calif. The San Mateo native was killed 75 years ago in World War II and his remains were recently re-discovered in the South Pacific where he fell fighting. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
SAN MATEO, CA - NOVEMBER 6: Taps are played during an interment ceremony for Marine Corps Reserve Pvt. Howard E. Miller, a San Mateo native killed 75 years ago in World War II, on Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, at Skyline Memorial Park in San Mateo, Calif. Miller's remains were recently re-discovered in the South Pacific where he fell fighting. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
SAN MATEO, CA - NOVEMBER 6: Marine veteran Jack McCloskey uses a walker to attend an interment ceremony for Marine Reserve Pvt. Howard E. Miller, held Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, at Skylawn Memorial Park in San Mateo, Calif. Miller, a San Mateo native, died 75 years ago in World War II. His remains were recently re-discovered in the South Pacific where he fell fighting. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
SAN MATEO, CA - NOVEMBER 6: Charmaine Rush sits with her son Barry Rush during an interment ceremony for her brother Marine Corps Reserve Pvt. Howard E. Miller, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, at Skyline Memorial Park in San Mateo, Calif. The San Mateo native was killed 75 years ago in World War II and his remains were recently re-discovered in the South Pacific where he fell fighting. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
SAN MATEO, CA - NOVEMBER 6: Charmaine Rush drops a rose in the grave of her brother, Howard E. Miller, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, during an interment ceremony at Skyline Memorial Park in San Mateo, Calif., Miller, a San Mateo native, was killed 75 years ago in World War II. His remains were recently re-discovered in the South Pacific where he fell fighting. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
SAN MATEO, CA - NOVEMBER 6: The remains of Marine Corps Reserve Pvt. Howard E. Miller are carried, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, to his gravesite at Skyline Memorial Park in San Mateo, Calif. The San Mateo native was killed 75 years ago in World War II and his remains were recently re-discovered in the South Pacific where he fell fighting. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Parades and celebrations that usually mark Veterans Day gave way to virtual gatherings, with many of the nation’s veterans homes barring visitors to protect residents from the surging coronavirus, which several veterans homes are fighting amid new outbreaks, AP reported. More than 4,200 veterans have died from COVID-19 at hospitals and homes run by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and nearly 85,000 have been infected, according to the department.
