text: President Barack Obama paid tribute at a Veterans Day ceremony Sunday at Arlington National Cemetery to "the heroes over the generations who have served this country of ours with distinction." 
   
   President Barack Obama presents a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery during a Veterans Day ceremony in Arlington, Va., Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012. He is accompanied by Maj. Gen.... (Associated Press) 
   
   President Barack Obama presents a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery during a Veterans Day ceremony in Arlington, Va., Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (Associated Press) 
   
   Early morning sun lights headstones at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Va., as the country commemorates Veterans Day, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012. President Barack Obama is expected to place a wreath... (Associated Press) 
   
   He said the wreath he laid earlier at Tomb of the Unknowns was intended to "remember every service member who has ever worn our nation's uniform." 
   
   In a speech at the Memorial Amphitheater, he said America will never forget the sacrifice made by its veterans and their families. 
   
   "No ceremony or parade, no hug or handshake is enough to truly honor that service," the president said, adding that the country must commit every day "to serving you as well as you've served us." 
   
   He spoke of the Sept. 11 generation, "who stepped forward when the Towers fell, and in the years since have stepped into history, writing one of the greatest chapters in military service our country has ever known. You've toppled a dictator and battled an insurgency in Iraq. You pushed back the Taliban and decimated al-Qaida in Afghanistan. You delivered justice to Osama bin Laden." 
   
   Obama also said this was the first Veterans Day in a decade with no American troops fighting and dying in Iraq, and that a decade of war in Afghanistan is coming to a close. 
   
   Over the next few years, he said, more than 1 million service members will make the transition to civilian life. "As they come home, it falls to us, their fellow citizens, to be there for them and their families, not just now but always." 
   
   Later, the president and his wife, first lady Michelle Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, greeted families in the cemetery's Section 60, home to graves of service members killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. ||||| During a Sunday morning visit to Arlington National Cemetery, President Barack Obama told the nation’s veterans that “we must do more” to support them when they return home. 
   
   “Today, a proud nation expresses our gratitude, but we do so mindful that no ceremony or parade, no hug or handshake is enough to truly honor that service,” Obama said during the Veterans Day observance. “We must commit, this day and every day, to serving you as well as you served us.” 
   
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   The president focused his remarks on the veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a group that will top one million in the next few years. 
   
   “This is the first Veterans Day in a decade in which there are no American troops fighting and dying in Iraq; 33,000 of our troops have now returned from Afghanistan and the transition there is under way,” he said. “As they come home, it falls to us, their fellow citizens, to be there for them and their family.” 
   
   Obama also noted the delayed claims process for benefits and pressed for urgent help and faster treatment, especially for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. 
   
   “No veteran should have to wait months or years for the benefits you’ve earned, so we will continue to attack the claims backlog,” he said. “We won’t let up.” 
   
   Obama placed a wreath at Arlington’s Tomb of the Unknowns.
target: – Speaking at the final resting spot of thousands of America's servicemembers, President Obama paid tribute to Veterans Day today with a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns and a vow to do more to take care of those who have served. "No ceremony or parade, no hug or handshake is enough to truly honor that service," Obama said, adding that a grateful nation must commit "to serving you as well as you've served us." Obama spoke with an eye on veterans of more recent wars, notes Politico, particularly the September 11th generation, "who stepped forward when the Towers fell, and in the years since have stepped into history, writing one of the greatest chapters in military service our country has ever known." Vowing to tackle a backlog in veterans' benefits, he said, "as they come home, it falls to us, their fellow citizens, to be there for them and their families, not just now but always."