Remember the Fallen…
Honor those who Serve…
Teach our children the value o Freedom…
December 18th, 2021 I had the honor to meet up with the WAA (Wreaths Across America) STAR group at Western North Carolina’s Veteran’s Cemetery in Black Mountain, NC. Our church raised enough donations to be able to place 22 remembrance wreaths on the graves of our country’s heroes. This was the first year I was able to participate in the ceremony. It was cold! It was rainy! It was humbling!
Each volunteer is asked to “Say Their Name,” before laying the wreath at the grave of our country’s fallen heroes. I knew this going into the ceremony, but I did not expect to be overcome with such emotion as I knelt at each grave or marker and said the name of the veteran aloud. I cannot even begin to put that experience into words.
Since its founding, WAA has expanded to include nearly 3,000 local fundraising groups in all 50 states, representing more than 2,150 participating locations, in addition to Arlington National Cemetery and ceremonies abroad.
Every year since 2008, Congress proclaims a Saturday in December as National Wreaths Across America Day. This year’s National Wreaths Across America Day will be held December 17th, 2022. There are several different “chapters,” including our local Griffith Rutherford Chapter who holds their ceremony at Rutherford County’s Memorial Cemetery each National Wreaths Across America Day.
I encourage you to find a group near you and participate in this very moving event or visit Wreaths Across America online to purchase a wreath in memory or in honor of a veteran. If you have a veteran buried at a veteran’s cemetery, you can specify to have your wreath delivered there. If you do not know a veteran, please consider purchasing a wreath for a volunteer to lay at the the grave of one of our heroes. The founder of WAA, Morrill Worcester hopes to one day have remembrance wreaths laid on every grave of every hero.
