The Wreaths Across America ceremony Saturday morning at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery of Western Colorado. More then 2,700 wreaths were placed at the cemetery. Across the nation, more than 1.7 million wreaths were placed on grave sites with each being remembered by saying each name out loud. This tradition started 1992 when the Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, Maine, had an excess of wreaths and arrangements that were made for the wreaths to be placed at Arlington National Cemetery. Now, 28 years later, more than 2.2 million wreaths have been placed in Veterans cemeteries all over the United States.
âThe 2020 theme for Wreaths Across America has been âBe An American Worth Fighting For,â and this year I have been blessed to see my fair share,â said Karen Worcester, executive director of Wreaths Across America.
Volunteers place wreaths on veterans’ graves at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery
Updated Dec 19, 2020;
Facebook Share
Hundreds of volunteers clear snow from headstones then place wreaths on each veteran’s grave at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in Lebanon County, Pa., during Wreaths Across America day, Dec. 19, 2020.
During this annual event, thousands of volunteers place the wreaths to “Remember our fallen U.S. veterans”, “Honor those who serve,” and “Teach our children the value of freedom,” according to Wreaths Across America’s website.
The 501-(c)(3) non-profit coordinates wreath-laying ceremonies at more than 2,100 locations across America with thousands of sponsors and teams of volunteers.
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.