BLACKSBURG -- Every year when he sees Virginia Tech cadets standing guard during a 48-hour Veterans Day vigil at the War Memorial pylons, Waverly Evans stops by to thank them.

They should be reminded that what they're doing is important, even in the middle of the night when it's cold and they're tired and no one is paying attention, Evans said.

He did the same thing as two cadets stood guard in a cold rain Wednesday morning, after a public Veterans Day ceremony inside the War Memorial Chapel.

The corps holds annual vigils in observance of Veterans Day, but Wednesday's marked the first universitywide event, said Lt. Col. Bill Stringer, deputy commandant of cadets.

"We invited all veterans who work here at Tech," Stringer said. "We intend to make this an annual event."

The ceremony included prayer, the playing of service songs and a brief story about each of the seven Tech alumni who have received a Medal of Honor, the highest award given to U.S. military personnel.

Speaker Major Gen. Jerry Allen, commandant of cadets, noted that 425 Tech alumni have died in combat or preparing for combat. The most recent was David Mitchell, an Ohio native and graduate of the class of 2001, who was killed Oct. 26 in Afghanistan.

A moment of silence was held to remember Mitchell and the victims of a mass shooting last week at Fort Hood in Texas.

After an indoor service, the crowd moved outside to the pylons. Tech President Charles Steger placed a wreath of orange and maroon flowers in front of the cenotaph at 11 a.m. to mark the time at which the Armistice was signed at the end of World War I on Nov. 11, 1918.

Lt. Col. Gregory Carroll, executive officer for the corps, was one of the wreath bearers for the ceremony.

"It's nice that we stop and remember those that have given so much and are still giving," he said. It's important to remember soldiers who are away from their homes as well as those who have been wounded or killed during their service, he said.

"An hour is the least we can give," he said.

Evans, of Blacksburg, said he had hoped to see more people at the ceremony -- about 75 attended. His father served in the Army in World War II, his mother was a storekeeper in the U.S. Navy and he served in the Navy as an electrician's mate aboard the U.S.S. Ainsworth in the 1980s, he said.

"I came out to honor my parents as well as all my shipmates and the people that have served that came from Virginia Tech and people who gave their lives," he said. "I think it's important for people to remember."

Christiansburg ceremony

Remembering veterans' sacrifice and service to the nation is one way to honor them, said Lt. Col. Andy Munera, who spoke in a Veterans Day ceremony in Christiansburg.

"But we must honor them with deeds, not just words," said Munera, commander of the Radford Army Ammunition Plant.

"Americans can thank veterans by taking full advantage of all your rights that they defended."

Munera said people can vote in every election, write letters to newspaper editorial pages, volunteer, fulfill jury duty, mentor a child, represent America well while visiting abroad and "live your lives and be good Americans, then all veterans will be proud to know that their sacrifices were not in vain. This is the thanks Americans can give."

Munera, who has served in Iraq and Kosovo, was the featured speaker at a ceremony sponsored by Christiansburg High School, American Legion Post 59 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5311. The high school hosted a reception for veterans after the ceremony. A parade was rained out.

About 40 people, many of them veterans, attended the ceremony that was moved indoors to the VFW building.

Christiansburg Mayor Richard Ballengee also spoke to honor the service of Sgt. Kenneth Gibson of Christiansburg, who was killed in Iraq in 2008. The 25-year-old died after an improvised explosive device detonated near him in Tarmiyah. Gibson joined the U.S. Army in March 2002, nearly a year after he graduated from Christiansburg High School.

"Kenneth Gibson is a true son of Christiansburg," Ballengee said.