ARLINGTON, Va. - Veterans' Day has been an American institution for 90 years. One year after World War I ended on the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month , President Woodrow Wilson declared Armistice Day, which in 1954 became Veterans Day.

Thousands across the country will celebrate with parades and prayers on this day. Ceremonies will be conducted at the Vietnam and World War II memorials, as well as the memorials for each branch of the service.

Vice President Dick Cheney (web|news|bio) was at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery Tuesday morning to lay a wreath and speak to the sacrifices and successes of America's military. "The conduct of our military today as throughout our nation's history makes this country very proud," Cheney said.

Hundreds gathered, from tourists to Cabinet members, to watch the solemn ceremony.

Cheney took hold of a wreath dotted with flowers and a ribbon of red, white and blue. He placed the wreath on its stand and held the ribbon quietly for a few moments. He then stepped back, and a bugler played Taps.

President Bush (web|news|bio) was to speak at the rededication ceremony of the Intrepid Sea Air & Space Museum in New York.

Frank Buckles, 107 years old and living in Charlestown, West Virginia, is one of the last surviving World War I veterans. Buckles was only 16 when he enlisted. "I had to sort of misrepresent my date of birth," he chuckles.

At the Iwo Jima Memorial early this morning, before the usual Veterans Day crowds swarmed the statue, David Nagle stopped by. He's here in Washington on business -- as he often is on Veterans Day -- and made a visit here, as is his habit. "It's a special time," Nagle says of his visit. 

Though the memorials to the soldiers who've paid the ultimate sacrifice play a significant role today, this day is also about those who served and lived to fight again. There are about 23.5 million of them nationwide. Nagle, a Vietnam-era Army veteran, says it's a special club -- and this, a special day for the club to gather. 

"When you're a veteran," Nagle says, "you're always a veteran no matter what, and so there's always an attachment to other people [who share that experience]."

The number of surviving World War II veterans is quickly declining, at an increasing rate of around 300,000 a year. Their shrinking numbers make the annual Veterans Day ceremony, the wreath laying at the World War II memorial, all the more meaningful.

Kim Ching, a World War II veteran, said, "We have to be a united country, because we cannot divide on ourselves. We have one country and that's us."