Veterans Honored At COVID-Safe Veterans Day Events Across Tri-State Area
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A number of Veterans Day events were held Wednesday across the Tri-State Area, though slightly different due to the pandemic.
At the traditional 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, band members from Wallington High School in New Jersey honored our nation's heroes, playing those beloved 24 notes of taps, part of a Taps Across America event to thank veterans.
Watch: Wallington, NJ High School Band Honors Nation's Veterans --
At Fifth Avenue and 32nd Street, floral tributes were placed at the Eternal Light Flagstaff, a Madison Square Park tradition now in its 98th year.
In Manhattan, the Intrepid, Sea Air & Space Museum hosted a wreath-laying ceremony. Space was limited, and the event was invitation-only.
Instead of the Veterans Day parade, there was a 100-vehicle motorcade on Fifth Avenue. The traditional parade was canceled because of the pandemic.
RELATED: Early Veterans Day Ceremony In Manhattan Pays Tribute To Women
In Bethpage, Long Island, superior officers and detectives in Nassau County's police department held a food drive to help vets struggling with food insecurity.
In Brooklyn, the tune was "Amazing Grace" and the attitude was one of gratitude at Cadman Plaza for all who wore the uniform, including World War II veteran Katherine Horton, now in a wheelchair and sadly diminished after a fall.
Now 100 years old, she enlisted in the Navy in 1944 and was among the first African-American women to study at Bethesda Medical Center.
MORE: 100-Year-Old Katherine Horton Among World War II Veterans Honored At Brooklyn Veterans Day Ceremony
In Rockland County at the Mount Moor Cemetery in the shadow of the Palisades Center, Black veterans honored the Buffalo Soldiers buried there, calvarymen who fought for the U.S. in the 1800s even as they lived with terrible racism and discrimination.
"Everyone who walks or drives past this hollowed ground should, at the minimum, nod their head in honor," said Bill Batson, vice president of the Mount Moor Historical Society.
MORE: Buffalo Soldiers Of Rockland County Lay Wreath At Mount Moor Historical Cemetery For Veterans Day
Wednesday night in Midtown, World War II vet Sidney Walton was saluted after a daylong journey from D.C., CBS2's Tony Aiello reports.
Billed as his "No Regrets Tour," at age 101, he's visiting all 50 states to give young Americans a chance to meet a World War II veteran.
Sixteen million served, and only 300,000 remain.
In Orange County, New York State showed off $17 million in improvements to the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, including a new wing to the museum and space for public gathering.
Meanwhile, New York landmarks continued to shine a light of thanks for our veterans through the night.
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