A hundred military veterans and their families gathered under a clear November sky for a Veterans Day ceremony at exactly 11 a.m. on the Stepney Green.

"Look at the crowd we've got here now, it's fantastic. We get a bigger crowd of veterans every year," said Victor Yanosy, commander of the Sippin-Winspur Post 176 in Monroe. "The public supports us fantastically and it's a mutual benefit for the veterans and the public."

 It was about the 12th year the local veterans organizations have conducted a ceremony on the Stepney Green. They took time to honor veterans who served in the past, as well as soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen of today.

 "It's a feeling of pride to be here, a good feeling," said Sgt. David Schmaling, U.S. Army Airborne/Reserves, who attended the event in his uniform. He returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2009. "It's just good to be home," he said.

 The ceremony is conducted jointly by American Legion posts from Monroe and Easton. Cynthia Robinson of Monroe sang the National Anthem, and the youth chorale for Our Lady of the Holy Rosary School sang patriotic songs that kept heads bowed and hands folded in prayer.

The green was decorated with American flags. The Save Our Stepney Task Force had placed 13 American flags on the green to commemorate its Flags Over Stepney program. A stone boulder with a plaque is located on the Stepney green at the base of the flagpole. A couple of uniformed Canadian airmen laid a wreath there, one of the highlights of the ceremony.

 It was a beautiful day for it, said First Selectman Steve Vavrek.

 "These guys have given their life to the world, to make us free," Vavrek said. "It's great to see all these veterans here, reading off the names of local people investing time and energy for our country overseas. Their parents are very proud of them as we all should be."

Veterans Day is dedicated to all U.S. service men and women. President Dwight D. Eisenhower coined the name in 1954, changing the prior title of Armistice Day, one it held since 1919 when it was named to commemorate the end of World War I.