“I thought that it was great and well attended. I’ve been coming to the Veterans Day ceremony here for 15 years. I think the best difference was the weather and the attendance and enthusiasm was excellent. I think the crowd is showing support for the veterans and I think there is a lot of patriotism because of the significant number of Milledgeville soldiers and veterans and the number of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Alton said.

Support for Georgia’s veterans — as well as veterans around the nation — has always been a priority even through budgetary issues, according to Holtz.

The State Department of Veterans Service provided services to more than 765,000 Georgia veterans, their dependents and survivors as of September 2008.

“Ensuring their smooth transition from veteran to civilian is a priority for us. We don’t wait for them to come to us. We go to them,” Holtz said. “There are no blank checks to match those signed by our veterans.”