The memories come creeping back every year, Ray Johnson said, when he stands quiet by the grass at Veterans Park.

As he steps in among the jumbled colored hats of veterans organizations for the annual bell ringing ceremony, he recalls the clashes in the mountains, the men he shivered beside and hoisted up cliff faces as part of the Army 10th Mountain Division.

"The first couple years is the worst, going to the ceremonies," Johnson said before the event on the crisp Friday morning. "You think about the men you lost, right next to you. That's who you'rereally here to honor."

The Coeur d'Alene ceremony on Friday was just as has become expected over the past few decades of Veterans Days, with Navy veteran Jim Shepperd striking the massive bell 11 times before a silent crowd.

Students from Winton Elementary performed, with onlookers joining in for the final verse of "God Bless America."

Earl Crain, commander of American Legion Post 14, spoke of the courage and unity of all service men, and the heavy memories they carry with them still.

"We believe our determination made us better warriors," the Korean War veteran said to the crowd of roughly 50. "Because we fought with our minds, our hearts, as well as our bodies."

Words that Johnson can understand. He had been drafted in the middle of World War II, he said.

Things were different then, Johnson noted. Male high school students knew they were going to war, not to college.

"The whole war changed everybody's goals," Johnson said.

The Coeur d'Alene native chose to sign up for the mountain division, he said, for which three letters of recommendation were required to prove one's outdoor capabilities and general hardiness.

"I thought it would be fun, getting to ski all day," he said.

"It was fun, until you got to Italy," said his wife, Vickie, standing by his side on Friday.

The division trained near Vail, Colo., Johnson said, at 9,500-foot elevation.

They were constantly drilled on winter warfare, mostly skiing and rock climbing, he said.

"We skied all day, sometimes all night," he said.

He recalled training maneuvers where they didn't see a camp for two weeks, the men pitted against each other in 30-below temperatures.

They bonded quickly and fiercely, formalities dropping as servicemen, colonels included, took ski lessons from a private.

"We weren't too by the book, because of that," he said with a chuckle.

Eventually they were shipped to Italy to take back the mountains occupied by German forces.

It was an ongoing series of battles over hill after hill, he said.

"The joke with us was, there was always one more hill," he said. "We're lucky they surrendered before going on to the Alps. It would've gone on for a year."

None of it is forgotten, he said. He has joined his division veterans for reunions in Colorado and Italy. He attends funerals for division members he didn't even know, and today, folks still recognize the insignia on his hat and walk up to shake his hand.

"They know what we accomplished," Johnson said. "I'm surprised they even know about it."

As for the ceremony on Friday, he's grateful that folks still celebrate what he and others sacrificed.

And the 87-year-old is grateful to be here to celebrate with them, he said.

"I feel lucky to have come back," he said.