JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Melverna Rivers-Lee watched downtown Jacksonville's annual Veteran's Day parade with pride, but she also watched for those currently serving.

"By being in Afghanistan and Iraq and all these foreign places, (they're) protecting our rights to be Americans," Rivers-Lee said.

Some veterans in the parade just returned from overseas, and Wednesday was their first time to be honored since being home.

Jennifer Koonce, a technical sergeant with the Air National Guard, spent the day with her daughter Trinity. Koonce is now home after serving several missions overseas, including one that's still classified.

She wants her daughter to understand what she and her husband do. Koonce said it helped by being in the parade.

"This is the first time my daughter was able to understand that I was a solider," Koonce said. "When I was gone the first time, she was going on 3, so this is the first time we could show appreciation."

Others with her group have similar stories, but all said being home and in the parade makes a difference.

"A lot of people may not be in agreement for us being over there, but when you go there and see the people minus 17 degrees in sandals and open-toes shoes and we have so many privileges in the U.S., you can't help but want to be over there and serve," said Technical Sgt. Helen Blackwell of Middleburg.

Many of the men and women didn't want to talk about recent events like Fort Hood because they're still serving.

A group of Marines, the 4th Amphibious Assault Group based off Heckscher Drive, said they just back from Afghanistan last month.

They've watched the stories and seen the events unfold, but for them their job is routine.

"It's been rough before, but this last trip was mostly boring," Gunnery Sgt. David Moore said. "We stood post standing watch and nothing pretty much happened, but we do what we got to do."