On Monday morning, local veterans organizations and residents of Merrimack paid tribute to the hundreds of thousands of veterans who've fought to serve and protect the country.

They honored locally the veterans in our communities who've gone before us and said thank you to those who are still alive today to share their stories.

The ceremony began at Last Rest Cemetery with a presentation of the colors by the VFW Post 8641 Honor Guard and the Merrimack Police Department Color Guard. American Legion Chaplain Skitch Henderson and Commander Roland Roberge and VFW Commander Paul Shea presented the ceremony in front of the war memorial in the cemetery, where recognition was paid to those veterans among the crowd.

A stop at Veterans Park to honor the colors was followed by a ceremony at VFW Post 8641 to add names to the honor wall there.

Felix (Doc) Peter, Frederick Ruffell Jr., Nicolas Valade, Ray Williams and Robert Picard, and Gerard Gagnon's names were all added to the wall during the ceremony.

VFW Commander Paul Shea encouraged those attending to continue putting out a hand to the veterans in the community.

"We've been through a lot of hardship, but life is good today," Shea said.