Debra Spears clutches a candle and a picture of her two sons, both in the Army, at Wednesday's Veterans Day ceremony at the VA hospital in Marion. Spears said one son had just returned from his fifth tour in Iraq and Afghanistan while the other just left for his second. A recent poll done by a military family advocacy group, Blue Star Familes, reported that out of 3,000 respondents, 94 percent of families with members in the military feel like other Americans don't understand the hardships they endure. "I just hope and pray for my boys and pray to God nothing happens to them," Spears said. "This is a beautiful thing to do for the other (soldiers) who have already made a huge sacrifice." (Photo by Diana Soliwon)
