President Barack Obama (Creative Commons)

He observed a moment of silence and left a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Solider, according to the Daily Beast.

“The memory of your loved one carries on not just in your hearts, but in ours, as well,” Obama said during his remarks. “Whenever America has come under attack, you’ve risen to her defense.”

Obama also spoke about Sept. 11 and what made this Veterans Day different. The Associated Press reported:

He spoke of the Sept. 11 generation, "who stepped forward when the Towers fell, and in the years since have stepped into history, writing one of the greatest chapters in military service our country has ever known. You've toppled a dictator and battled an insurgency in Iraq. You pushed back the Taliban and decimated al-Qaida in Afghanistan. You delivered justice to Osama bin Laden."

Obama also said this was the first Veterans Day in a decade with no American troops fighting and dying in Iraq, and that a decade of war in Afghanistan is coming to a close.

Over the next few years, he said, more than 1 million service members will make the transition to civilian life. As they come home, Obama urged their fellow citizens to always be there for them and their families.

Later, the president and his wife, first lady Michelle Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, greeted families in the cemetery's Section 60, home to graves of service members killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Reach Executive Producer Hannah Madans here.