As Americans paused to celebrate Veteran's Day, the director of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' National Chaplain Center also thanked God for veterans.

During the Veteran's Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Chaplain Director Keith Ethridge called veterans "God's gift to America," and "their gift to the world is freedom."

Ethridge asked also God to watch over the nation's veterans and their families.

In Michigan, Veteran's Day could not have been more fitting for some families of Army National Guard soldiers who greeted them upon their return from Iraq.

"It's surreal," said Army Specialist Kenneth Ochewski. "I didn't think it would come so fast, but it just feels so great. I can't even put it into words."

"She's my baby," Gail Jacobson said about her daughter, who had been in Iraq for the last year. "Yeah, it was scary when they left and I fretted the whole time but yeah, she's home today."