DeKALB – Veterans Day is about the red, white and blue, but the feelings some veterans have today are not always black and white.

For 89-year-old Cecile Meyer, the memories she has of her time in the Marines during World War II are pleasant, painful and a reminder of how much the entire experience would shape the rest of her life.

Meyer grew up on the east coast of Florida during the height of the Great Depression. Despite becoming valedictorian of her class, Meyer could not afford college. With no brothers, she decided to join the military and do her part to stop the atrocities she heard were happening in Europe.