Service to the country by veterans past and present — including a legacy of contributions by Hawaii’s sons and daughters — was remembered Tuesday at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.

Retired Army Brig. Gen. Irwin Cockett Jr. told more than 1,000 in attendance for the Veterans Day ceremony that he placed a lei that morning, as he’s done each year, on the grave of his Korean War "foxhole buddy," Herbert Kalino.

A World War II Marine Corps veteran and Hawaiian who survived Gua­dal­ca­nal, Kalino was killed in that foxhole during a night attack in August 1950 when the U.S. Army 5th Regimental Combat Team’s position was overrun by North Korean soldiers, Cockett said.

"I matured from a boy to a man that day," said Cockett, adding that the day was his 19th birthday.

Cockett added, "I’m sure that as the words of that event spilled from my lips, other veterans seated in the audience are recalling similar experiences from their pasts."

Indeed, Navy Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., who commands the U.S. Pacific Fleet and was the keynote speaker, said he was "reminded of the high price that Hawaii paid in the conflicts honored by this memorial — the price paid by those who fought in World War II and Korea and Vietnam, a price paid not only because of Hawaii’s proximity to the front lines, but because of the willingness of Hawaii’s sons and daughters to serve in our armed forces."

The ceremony was held at the foot of the steps of the Hono­lulu Memorial, established to honor the sacrifices and achievements of American armed forces in the Pacific during World War II and the Korean War.

The memorial grew in 1980 to include Vietnam War missing, and expanded in 2012 with the addition of two mosaic battle maps depicting the Southeast Asian conflict.

Bridging the Pacific and mainland, the Veterans Day observation included a Hawaiian haa war chant, a rifle salute and taps.

Harris said that "from our nation’s fiery birth in 1776 to our most recent fiery conflicts in Iraq and Af­ghani­stan, America’s warriors have always answered the call."

"Our veterans fought two world wars, fought wars in Korea and Vietnam, the Cold War, plus our fights in Iraq, the Balkans, Somalia, Panama, Grenada, Af­ghani­stan, Libya and Iraq again," Harris told the audience. "And today in northern Iraq, they are there yet again working with a broad coalition to stamp out (Islamic State) — an evil that threatens all our nations."

James Kaleohano was among those veterans at the ceremony wearing a Purple Heart cap signifying being wounded in action.

The Oahu man said the award resulted from a shrapnel injury to his neck in Vietnam, but he joined the military in 1950 and went to Korea with the 25th Division when the war broke out there.

"Terrible" is how he summed up the Korea duty as a 17-year-old machine-gunner. "You know, we went straight from here right after basic in 1950 and went straight to Korea in winter."

"We didn’t have no winter clothing. We almost froze to death because there was no winter clothes," Kaleo­hano said. "We thought it would be over, and a lot of the winter clothing was all destroyed because we were getting overrun by the Chinese."

Kaleohano, 81, said he was at Punchbowl because the holiday that’s observed is supposed to be about honoring veterans.

"Sometimes we forget the veterans, and too many people now, all they think about is picnic and swimming and going to the beaches and all that," he said. "You gotta remember the reason they can go is because of the veterans."