Each year just before Christmas, our nation’s dearly departed veterans are honored with a special wreath laying ceremony for the holiday.
Wreaths Across America is an organization dedicated to remembering and honoring America’s veterans who have passed.
“A boyhood visit to Arlington National Cemetery left a big impression on Morrill Worcester—one he never forgot,” the Wreaths Across America website said. “Decades later, in 1992, his company’s surplus of 5,000 wreaths and his desire to have them placed at Arlington kicked off an annual tribute that went on quietly for over ten years.”
Interest in the project grew and drew national attention and in 2007 a dedicated group of volunteers formed Wreaths Across America as a non-profit organization to continue and expand the mission to “Remember, Honor, and Teach,” according to the website.
The Worcester Wreath Company, which was founded by Worcester, began donating wreaths for gravesites at Arlington National Cemetery in 1992 and since 2006 has also donated holiday wreaths for the graves of veterans laid to rest at VA’s National Cemeteries and state Veterans cemeteries.
Volunteers who place a wreath on a grave are encouraged to say the veteran’s name aloud and take a moment to thank them for their service to our country.
Here locally, Mountain Home National Cemetery will host a Wreaths Across America holiday wreath-laying ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 17 at Noon. On Friday, the Cemetery will host a special “All Call Roll Call” where veterans will read aloud the names of all of the veterans buried in the cemetery’s 14,800 grave sites. The Roll Call will begin an 6 a.m. on Friday and will last around six or seven hours as volunteers read off each veteran’s name.
Among the readers again this year will be U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, M.D., who is himself a veteran.
“I am deeply honored to be given the opportunity participate in Friday’s All Call Roll Call, where the names of ­all veterans buried at Mountain Home National Cemetery will be read aloud,” Roe said, adding he will be reading names on Friday morning around 8:15 a.m. “This Christmas season, as we reflect on our blessings and cherish time with loved ones, it’s important we remember and honor the men and women who have fought and died to keep us free. I look forward to seeing many constituents at this special event.”