More than 100 spectators came out to the corner of Forest and Fifth streets today in Wausau to honor members of the military during a nearly 20-minute Veterans Day ceremony.

Lt. Col. Roger Cook, a member of the Army Reserve and the event’s guest speaker, focused his speech on honoring not just the veterans who served during conflicts, but those who spent their time in training during times of peace.

“To me, at times, it would almost seem as though they were apologizing for the time they were in the service,” said Cook, who has served 35 years, which includes tours in Vietnam, Kosovo and Afghanistan. “They deserve as much, if not more, thanks than any of the war-time combat vets.

“I don’t intend to take away from those who served in combat zones,” he said. “I’m merely attempting to point out ... the importance of those veterans that have served ... between conflicts and in non-hostile areas. They are veterans, too.”

The veterans who attended said they appreciated Cook’s kind words about those veterans who didn’t see combat.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever heard a speaker talk about the ‘in-betweeners’,” said Jim Campbell, 62, of Rib Mountain, a Marine Corps veteran who did not serve in combat during his tenure from 1969 to 1989.

The speech was followed by a gun salute as well as the playing of Taps.

Read more in Thursday’s print and online editions of the Wausau Daily Herald.