Two days before this year s ceremony, in a somber annual event that prepares the grounds for Memorial Day, cadets from the Air Force Junior ROTC unit at Fort Walton Beach High School will place flowers on the graves of the more than 1,600 U.S. military veterans laid to rest at Beal Memorial. The cadets also will be on hand to assist with the May 31 ceremony.
In addition to honoring the nation s troops who died in war and the local veterans who have passed away in the past year, this year s Memorial Day observance will include recognition of those held as prisoners of war or listed as missing in action, and also will honor Gold Star families, the immediate family members of veterans who died while serving in a time of conflict.
FORT WALTON BEACH In the crisp air of a sun-splashed Saturday morning, volunteers spread silently across the grounds of Beal Memorial Cemetery to lay wreaths at the graves of the more than 1,700 veterans buried there.
The morning marked the inaugural year for local participation in Wreaths Across America, an initiative to honor and remember the nation s military veterans.
Wreaths Across America traces its beginnings to 1992, when volunteers placed a truckload of wreaths donated by Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, Maine, on graves at Arlington National Cemetery. From there, Wreaths Across America has become a nonprofit organization that also teaches school, scout, civic and other groups about American veterans.