Facebook, CNN come together to honor vets

Rachel Goodspeed posted a tribute to all of her family members who have served in the U.S. military, including her grandfather, father, husband, brother and herself. Her father, who spent thirty years in the Air Force, was a big influence in her decision to join the military.

Trudi Crow wanted to honor her grandfather, John 'Jack' Allen Gillis, who was drafted in the Army during World War II, and joined the Air Force a few years after the war ended. His son, Warren Gillis, says that one of his first jobs in the Army was to guard the Golden Gate Bridge in 1942. He was later stationed in Hawaii as a spotter. While in the Air Force, Gillis took part in the Korean War and the Berlin Airlift. Gillis is 87-years-old and lives at the Southwest Louisiana War Veterans Home in Jennings, Louisiana. He decided to live in this home after the passing of his wife. "It's kind of like the old days in the Army or the Air Force," his son said. "He seems to be happy."

Ashley Gomez posted a tribute to her husband, Gunnery Sergeant Elder Gomez. The two have been married for five years and have a three-year-old daughter, Evie. Gomez has served in three combat tours to Iraq, is a black belt instructor in the Marine Corps Martial Arts program, has mentored at-risk teens in their local school system and is a sheriff's deputy. "I admire him for his selflessness," Gomez said. "My sister once said, 'I am so happy that Elder willingly goes so that my sons don't have to go.' I used to cry at the thought of deployments, and I still do, but I think about my sister's comment, and it brings me peace."

Proud mother of two service members, Eva Yates, posted a tribute to honor all of her family members who are veterans of the U.S. military. Her son-in-law, Thomas Baszler, and her daughter, Codi Desiree Baszler, are in the Air Force. Her son, David Rowdy Yates, is currently serving in the Army, and she and her husband are both retired from the Army. She has nine more family members that have served or who are currently serving in the military. "I am so proud of my family. We all love our country and we love our veterans. Also we need to remember the military families too. They support their loved ones and keep the 'home fires burning'." Her son and daughter are pictured at Fort Sill.

Kevin P. Kelly wants to honor his father, Kevin F. Kelly, who served in the Air Force for 16 years. His father is pictured on the left in1968 before he deployed to Vietnam, and Kelly is pictured on the right during his last few days of training in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 2010. "My dad joined because he has always had a love for airplanes," Kelly said. "I joined because I wanted to make the sacrifice so my friends, family, and people I don't even know wouldn't have to. I serve because I love my country."

Christy Adams met Cpt. Merritt Thomas at a Christmas party in 2008 and the two have been together ever since. "Merritt is happiest when he is around the people he loves," Adams said. 'He is usually the center of attention (no complaining on his part, I might add) and he loves making people smile and laugh. His heart is so big, I don't know how it fits in his chest.'

Robyn Barham posted this tribute to her son, Robert Barham, who is currently serving in the U.S. Army. She says her son "strives to do his best" and he recently got promoted to sergeant. Barham says it's important to pay respect to our veterans because, "the sacrifices made by our armed servicemen and women can never be honored enough. We are free today because of our active duty and veterans of the past. I truly thank him for his hard work and his accomplishments since becoming a soldier."

Lee Gunderson, a friend of Dr. Donald MacMahon's, praised his numerous accomplishments in his tribute. Gunderson says MacMahon is celebrated as one of the most famous Canadians to serve during World War II. He served in the Canadian Navy, and Gunderson says he had a number of great achievements during his time in the Navy.

Ricardo Cruz served in the U.S. Army for thirteen years along with his brother, Andres, who is still in the Army and currently stationed at the White House. "It is very important to me that the world honor those who so willingly risk their lives, their health, their "everything" to ensure a better way of life for the next generation," he wrote in his tribute. "Too often we don't get the recognition, the credit, the honor that we deserve."

Dawn Murphy posted a tribute to her late father, Leonard V. Scott, who fought in the U.S. Army during WWII. "My dad lived life to the fullest each day," Murphy said. "He was a character. He wanted to give us the moon!'" Murphy says it's important to honor our veterans because "they are the reason that we can have the freedoms in America that we so enjoy."

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(CNN) -- Veterans Day is dedicated to honoring our military servicemen and servicewomen, many of whom continue to risk their lives for the lives of millions. The efforts of these heroes and the sacrifices they make deserve our respect and gratitude.

This year for Veterans Day, CNN iReport partnered with Facebook to salute veterans in a new way. Facebook users uploaded pictures of veterans they wanted to recognize for their service and tagged "CNN iReport" in the photo for it to appear on iReport's Facebook page. We invited some of the best submitters to upload their photos to iReport in our Honor a veteran assignment. Those submissions that originated on Facebook received a "Submitted via Facebook" bug in the producer's note of the iReport.

We received tributes honoring veterans across all branches of the U.S. military, and even one from the Canadian Navy.

Lee Gunderson praised Dr. Donald MacMahon, C.D., one of the most famous Canadians to serve during World War II. MacMahon served with distinction in the Canadian Navy where "he accepted the surrender of the first German submarine captured in Canadian waters," Gunderson wrote in his iReport.

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"He later went on to become one of the great leaders of our Armed Forces and Navy Veterans societies in Canada."

Several of the submissions included tributes to generations of family members who served or are currently serving in the military. Rachel Goodspeed posted a tribute to all of her family members who have served the U.S., including her grandfather, father, husband, brother and herself. Her father, who spent 30 years in the Air Force, was a big influence in her decision to join the military.

"We have a tradition of having family members in the service," she said. "It seemed natural for me to want to continue that."

Goodspeed says that entering the military is a huge sacrifice, recalling that during her childhood her father was gone on deployments for extended periods of time. "They're fighting for a cause that's bigger than themselves," she said.

If you know someone who has served in the Armed Forces and would like to honor their service, you can upload a tribute to them in our Salute to Troops assignment. If you would like to honor a fallen service member, you can upload a tribute to them in our Home and Away: Remembering the fallen assignment.

CNN's Carly Costello contributed to this story.