U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken celebrated this year’s International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers by offering special praise for the UN’s “blue helmets.”

With the theme of this year’s celebration being "People. Peace. Progress. The Power of Partnerships,” the day is being touted as a chance to pay tribute to and honor those who have lost their lives serving as peacekeepers, according to the UN's website.

"Unfortunately, UN peacekeepers too often sacrifice their lives for the cause of peace, and today we pause to express our deep gratitude to the more than 4,000 peacekeepers who have died during their service over the past seven decades, 135 of them last year alone," Blinken said in a Department of State release.

The first ‘blue helmets’ peacekeeping mission was in 1948, Blinken said, adding more than a million brave men and women have now served in peacekeeping operations. At present, there are 12 different UN peacekeeping operations around the globe, totaling nearly 90,000 personnel actively working toward "peace, reconciliation and durable political solutions."

All told, peacekeeping has helped save countless lives and brought peace and stability to many countries over the decades, the release reported. 

On May 26, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres placed a wreath under the UN flag outside of the UN Headquarters in New York to mark the day, according to the UN's website. Two awards were presented, the Dag Hammarskjold medal awarded posthumously to members of blue helmets who lost their lives during service and the Military Gender Advocate of the Year, which recognizes a peacekeeper who has integrated a gender perspective into their peacekeeping efforts.