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TO REMEMBER AND HONOR
Wreaths are laid in cemeteries across the nation to honor our military heroes through a program called Wreaths Across America.
How a Maine company's surplus Christmas wreaths spawned an annual tradition honoring America's fallen soldiers, a program thanking veterans for their service, and much more.
Remember. Honor. Teach.
That is the mission of Wreaths Across America, a nonprofit best known for its annual wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery and around the country.
Founded in 2007, WAA actually had its beginnings about 15 years earlier in Harrington, Maine. That is when Morrill Worcester, owner of Worcester Wreath Company, discovered that he had a surplus of wreaths at the end of the holiday season. Inspired by a boyhood trip to Arlington National Cemetery, he realized he had an opportunity to honor our country’s veterans. So a wreath-laying ceremony was organized at the military cemetery, with the aid of Maine U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe, along with help from local volunteers and a nearby trucking company that transported the wreaths to Virginia.
The ceremony quietly became an annual tradition, taking place every December. Then, in 2005, a photo of the wreath- and snow-covered stones went viral, and the project quickly received national attention from people wanting to help – as well as those wanting to emulate the project at their local cemeteries. In 2006, simultaneous wreath-laying ceremonies were held at over 150 locations across the nation.
As the Arlington ceremony continued to grow and spread across the country, the Worcester family and their partners formed the nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization known as Wreaths Across America. According to the WAA website, “It became clear the desire to remember and honor our country’s fallen heroes was bigger than Arlington, and bigger than this one company.”
In 2014, WAA and its national network of volunteers laid over 700,000 memorial wreaths, including covering Arlington with 226,525 wreaths. Ceremonies were held at 1,000 locations that year, including at the Pearl Harbor Memorial, Bunker Hill, Valley Forge and the sites of the September 11 tragedies.
The wreath-laying is still held annually, on the second or third Saturday of December, but WAA makes yearround efforts to remember the fallen, honor those who serve and their families, and teach the next generation the value of freedom.
In addition to participating in veterans’ events throughout the year, WAA also organizes programs such as the Thanks a Million campaign, which distributes cards to veterans all over the country to thank them for their service. The Remembrance Tree program takes families of fallen soldiers out to the
In Memoriam: Famous Veterans Who Died in 2020
American Shooting Journal recognizes a few of the military veterans who passed away last year, and thanks them for their service.
COURTESY OF MILITARY.COM
Major General Brent
Scowcroft. (WIKIPEDIA)
Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft
A 1947 graduate of West Point, Brent Scowcroft trained to be a fighter pilot in the Army Air Corps until his F-51 crashed in a New Hampshire swamp and put him in the hospital for two years. After he recovered from his injuries, Scowcroft rose in the ranks and served as the national security adviser to Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush, becoming the only man to serve in that role for two presidents.
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas enlisted in the U.S. Navy in December 1941 and served as a communications officer in antisubmarine warfare aboard the USS PC-1139. He was discharged in 1944 after suffering injuries due to a premature depth charge.
Douglas had attended acting school before the war, and his dramatic career Kirk Douglas in 1963. (WIKIPEDIA) really took off after he played opposite fellow veteran Robert Mitchum in the 1947 movie Out of the Past. Over the next seven decades, he accumulated almost 100 film credits.
Ronald Shurer
Ronald Shurer enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2002 and trained as a Special Forces medic. He was promoted to staff sergeant in 2006. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his conduct at the Battle of Shok Valley in Afghanistan on April 6, 2008. His unit came under heavy fire and was U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Ronald J. Shurer. (U.S. ARMY pinned down on a mountainside. Shurer PHOTO BY MONICA KING) ran through heavy fire to treat wounded Americans and was injured himself by a strike to his helmet and another to his arm. He received his Medal of Honor from President Donald Trump in October 2018.
Regis Philbin
Regis Philbin joined the U.S. Navy in 1953 after graduating from Notre Dame, serving as a supply officer lieutenant junior grade. Philbin became one of the most beloved figures in American television as the host of the nationally syndicated show, Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee. It dominated the daytime ratings until Philbin retired in 2011.
John Prine
John Prine was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and served in Germany as a mechanic. After completing his service, Prine worked as a mail carrier in Chicago.
He wrote songs while delivering the mail and gained acclaim on the city’s folk music circuit. He got his big break when fellow veteran Kris Kristofferson invited him to open a show, which led to a deal with Atlantic Records and a nearly 50-year career as one of America’s most respected and beloved singersongwriters.
Bennie Adkins
Command Sgt. Maj. Bennie Adkins was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1956 and served until 1978.
In March 1966, Adkins joined two officers from the Fifth Special Forces Group at Camp A Shau in the triplecanopy valley that ran west from Hue city to the Ho Chi Minh trail in Cambodia. The North Vietnamese attacked, and Adkins fought back. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor during the battle.
Command Sgt. Maj. Bennie G. Adkins. (U.S.
ARMY PHOTO BY STAFF SGT. BERNARDO FULLER/RELEASED)
Whitey Ford
Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Whitey Ford left the New York Yankees in 1951 to serve with the U.S. Army during the Korean War.
Before his military service, Ford had already won one World Series ring and, upon his return, the Yankees won 10 American League pennants and five World Series in a 12-year span.
Fred Willard graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1955 and then served with the U.S. Army in Germany.
His post-service career in comedy took a while to get going but, starting in the 1970s, Willard became one of the funniest and hardest-working actors in Hollywood, with memorable roles in movies and TV series such as This Is Spinal Tap, Best in Show and Anchorman.
Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1942 and served during World War II, eventually finding his way into the legendary Special Services entertainment unit.
Reiner found success on stage as a comic and in film as an alwayshilarious supporting actor, but he made his biggest impact as a producer and director. He created The Dick Van Dyke Show and directed the classic movies The Jerk, The Man With Two Brains and Oh, God!
Carl Reiner. (ANGELA
GEORGE AT HTTPS://WWW. FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/ SHARONGRAPHICS/)
Bill Withers. (COLUMBIA
RECORDS)
Bill Withers
Bill Withers joined the U.S. Navy at age 17 and spent his military career as a mechanic who installed toilets on airplanes.
He found a job with Boeing doing the same thing after his discharge, writing songs and recording demos in his spare time. Once those demos landed him a record deal after the age of 30, Bill
Jerry Stiller
Jerry Stiller served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
His Hollywood career took off when he married Anne Meara, and the pair formed a successful comedy duo that enjoyed great success in nightclubs, on television and even in a series of commercials that played off their bickering comedy style. Later in life, Stiller became one of TV’s greatest grouchy dads as the costar of the massively successful comedy series Seinfeld and The King of Queens.
Jerry Stiller. (DANIEL
KRIEGER, PHOTO BY DANIELKRIEGER.COM)
Don Shula
Don Shula was a defensive back for the Cleveland Browns when his Ohio National Guard unit was activated in January 1952. He spent the year in Ohio and at Fort Polk until November, when he was released from active duty and allowed to return to football. Shula spent the later years of his Don Shula. (DOD PHOTO playing career with the Baltimore Colts, BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 1ST CLASS CHAD and the team eventually hired him as J. MCNEELEY, U.S. NAVY/ its head coach in 1963. Shula later took RELEASED) his talents to Miami and became the Dolphins’ head coach. In a 25-year career there, he took the team to four Super Bowls and won twice.
Civil Air Patrol National Commander Major General Joseph Vazquez lays a holiday wreath at a veteran’s gravesite during a Wreaths Across America ceremony. (JOSEPH balsam tip land (where the wreaths are harvested) to find a tree that will become a living memorial to their loved one. Finally, the WAA Museum is an 1,800-square-foot facility showcasing hundreds of items that have been donated to Wreaths Across America over the decades, including personal photos, awards, uniforms, helmets and other military memorabilia.
WAA is also dedicated to teaching the younger generation about the value of their freedoms and the importance of honoring those who sacrificed so much to protect those freedoms. They offer learning tools, interactive media projects and opportunities for schools, 4-H, scouts and other youth groups to participate in WAA efforts.
Editor’s note: For more information about Wreaths Across America, visit wreathsacrossamerica.org.
