U.S. Army Sgt. David W. Peace Jr., gave his heart and soul to his country. So his wife, Elizabeth “Lib” McCulloch Peace, gives hers too.

On Veteran’s Day, there won’t be a ceremony in the Anderson community that she won’t be standing in — if she knows it’s on the calendar. When she can, this 81-year-old widow will look into the eyes of veterans and say “thank you” and she will throw out her arms for a hug. It’s the least she can do, she said.

“I have enjoyed all the benefits of every person who has ever worn the uniform of this great nation,” Peace said. “All of the freedoms, we enjoy, I saw first-hand the suffering they endured to protect those freedoms. I know about the years of quiet suffering of veterans who never regretted the fact that they volunteered and said they would go again, if needed.”

That suffering, she knew intimately, because her husband was a member of the Army’s 803rd Combat Engineers. He was a prisoner of war for three and a half years, he was wounded twice in the same day and was in combat five hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, in the Philippines. .

Their son, Capt. David L. Peace, went on to serve 30 years as a Judge Advocate General in the U.S. Navy. And now, her grandson, Christopher Peace, is a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy.

Those men are part of the military heritage of the Upstate and are the reason for a whole list of gatherings across Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties today. According to the Veterans’ Affairs offices in Anderson and Oconee counties, there are at least 25,698 veterans in the three counties.

Veteran’s Day is a way of marking the end of the fighting in World War I with the armistice went into effect at the 11th hour of the 11th day of November. Fighting in the war did not resume from that point until the Treaty of Versailles, which officially ended the war, was signed on June 28, 1919.

Sammy Lewis, of the Anderson County veterans’ office, said there are 17,198 former military personnel living in the county as of 2007. The staff at the Oconee County office said they estimate that there are 8,500 veterans in the Upstate’s Golden Corner.

Events are kicking off around 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. today — with many celebrations being held at local schools. Then there will be a gathering at Richard M. Campbell Nursing Home in Anderson at 11 a.m., with a lunch included.

And in Westminster there will be a Veteran’s Day Parade, starting at 4:30 p.m., said Jerry Dyar, the director of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs Office in Oconee County. He said area high school bands will perform in the parade and there will be several groups of veterans, including Pearl Harbor survivors, some who fought on Iwo Jima and World War II prisoners of war. Some of the ROTC units from the local high schools will also march, he said.

But the climax for the week will be the display of the smaller version of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Clemson University’s Bowman Field this weekend, Dyar said. The presentation of “The Wall” is a joint effort between the veterans in Anderson and Oconee counties as well Clemson University. The wall will be set up on Wednesday.