WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA

  • Published
  • By Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Winstead
  • USARAK Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  By The second Saturday of every December has a special meaning to those with loved ones who have lost their lives in service to our country.

On that day, the Wreaths Across America program honors fallen service members in national cemeteries each holiday season.

Service members and area citizens brought the tradition to Fort Richardson National Cemetery Dec. 10, placing more than 680 wreaths of evergreens with red ribbons on the veterans' headstones.

Among the service representatives presenting wreaths during the event's opening ceremony were U.S. Army Alaska Chief of Staff Col. Gary Agron and Lt. Gen. Stephen Hoog, Alaskan Command and 11th Air Force commander.

Wreaths Across America, started by Morril Worcester, the owner of a decorative wreath company in Harrington, Maine, expanded to a national level after photos of his donations of wreaths to Arlington Cemetery were circulated in 2005.

Since then, the event has spread to every national cemetery in the United States thanks to the contributions of donors.

Following the ceremonial opening of the Fort Richardson event, in which representatives of each branch of service placed wreaths, guests were invited to help place the remaining wreaths in three sections of the cemetery.

While the entire cemetery wasn't able to be adorned with wreaths, each section has at one time been honored in such a fashion and sections are rotated each year.

"We started this tradition in Alaska with a donation of only about 90 wreaths, and now we are receiving almost 700 wreaths," said Cary Kimball of the Civil Air Patrol Alaska Chapter, which helped organize the event, in opening remarks at the event.

"I believe that one day we will cover this entire cemetery," Kimball said.

For information on the Wreaths Across America program, please contact Mary Rall, USARAK Community Relations at 384-2018, or visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org.