CHARLESTON — Veterans Day looked different this year in West Virginia, but Gov. Jim Justice still took time to host a virtual tribute to the state’s veterans Wednesday.

“What we owe them is everything we have to a bunch of ordinary men and women who stepped up beyond belief … to ensure that you, I, and all of us would have what we have in this great, great country,” he said.

Justice — joined by Department of Veterans Assistance Secretary Dennis Davis, West Virginia National Guard Adjutant General Maj. Gen. James Hoyer, and Department of Arts, Culture and History Curator Randall Reid-Smith — held a virtual Veterans Day ceremony from the State Capitol Building on Wednesday.

The virtual event featured pre-recorded videos, with the Cabell-Midland High School Marching Band performing the “Star Spangled Banner,” the Pledge of Allegiance led by members of the West Virginia National Guard, and a prayer by Ray Stonestreet, a reverend in the West Virginia Conference for the United Methodist Church and a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Justice spoke about his father, James C. Justice, who was a captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps — the predecessor of the U.S. Air Force — during World War II. Justice paid tribute to the guardsmen serving during the COVID-19 pandemic, and veterans who are still serving, such as WWII Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Woody Williams and his work on behalf of Gold Star families.

“Not only do I think about our veterans, but I think of those serving us right now,” Justice said. “I think about a state that is first to volunteer, first to serve. I think about the symbol of what today really is: a symbol of freedom and liberty for the entire world. I think about all that they’ve given and so little they always ask. It is amazing what we owe these great people.”

According to the Department of Veterans Assistance, there are more than 137,000 veterans in West Virginia. The state has frequently been among the top states with the highest population of veterans per capita, with West Virginia veterans making up more than 10 percent of the state’s 1.8 million residents.

“At the West Virginia Department of Veterans Assistance, every day is Veterans Day,” Davis said. “We are committed to meeting the needs of veterans of the State of West Virginia on a daily basis. They’ve earned it and they deserve it.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 35 percent of West Virginia’s veterans served during the Vietnam era, though only 4 percent of the state’s veterans served during WWII.

West Virginia’s members of the Armed Forces have served in all kinds of conflicts, but members of the West Virginia National Guard have been fighting a new kind of conflict against the COVID-19 virus. More than 400 guardsmen have been on active duty since March helping with coronavirus testing, making personal protective equipment, sanitizing infected offices, and distributing food to school children and families.

“I would ask us today not to focus on the statues, the monuments, the day itself, but on what’s behind the day,” Hoyer said. “For those ordinary men and women, our veterans, who have made extraordinary sacrifices on behalf of others, God bless you and thank you for your service.”