Wreaths Across America

Dear Friends,

Please join me in this cause which is close to my heart.

Each December Wreaths Across America carries out its mission Remember, Honor, and Teach by placing wreaths on veterans' graves during the holiday season. Over 600 locations across the country participate.

This year the challenge is to place a wreath to honor every hero buried at Arlington National Cemetery, that's over 225,000 wreaths needed.

If each of us who enjoy the Freedom secured by the service and sacrifices of these veterans and their families make a stand for a veteran we can meet this goal.

You can help. Your $10 tribute will place a wreath.

Say thank-you for your freedom. Show the families that you care.

Please click on the image above OR visit http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/ to sponsor a wreath.

We can certainly do this as American Citizens............

Thank You!

"To be killed in a war is not the worst that can happen. To be lost is not the worst. To be forgotten is the worst." Pierre Claeyssens

Introducing 'The Christmas They Never Had'

I've just been told that this Christmas Season the Worcester Wreath Company has been given permission to place wreathes on ALL 330,000 + graves at Arlington!

Here's Karen Worcester to tell you more:

I watched my friend Sir Stanley closely as he spoke of his time as a POW. He is a hero of mine. His manner is strong, kind and knowing. He has seen much in his 86 years and I tend to hang on his every word. I love to listen to his stories. He often addresses me personally and his speaking my name draws me into the story even deeper.

My name is Karen Worcester of Wreaths Across America and this particular day we had been discussing the fact that we have been given permission in 2011 to cover all of the 330000+ graves at Arlington. He was visibly pleased. Then he in a matter of fact way, he shared a story that changed my life.

He was a young man far from home engaged in the now famous “Battle of the Bulge.” He describes how cold it was there in the Ardennes Forest. When his division was forced to surrender to the Germans, Corporal Wojtusik and a couple others managed to escape only to be captured shortly there-after.

Then on Christmas Eve 1944, he huddled with hundreds of other POWs in 3 box cars. The train was carrying the prisoners, but was not marked as required by the Geneva Convention. So in the middle of the war, they came under friendly fire by the allies.

Stanley shared, “You could hear the cars and men being hit, and the screaming. Here we were, we couldn’t run or even move. It was Christmas Eve. What else could we do? So we all joined hands and sang Silent Night - to comfort one another in that terrible time. Everyone in the other two cars were killed that night, yet ours was spared.”

Then Sir Stanley shared these words - “You know Karen, that became known as the Christmas they never Had.”

I started to cry, and frankly am crying now as I write this. I promised my friend and hero that I, that we, would do all we could do to make sure they never missed another Christmas. We decided right then and there, to make this our theme for 2011 - the 20th anniversary of wreaths being placed at Arlington during the holidays.
A couple days later, in an emotional pitch to another friend and veteran, I shared Sir Stanley’s story. This friend - a Vietnam veteran, always so stoic let down his guard, and with tears running down his cheeks told of the Christmas he never had while in the jungle of Vietnam.

I hope you will join us in 2011 as we make it our mission to give "The Christmas they Never Had." Not only for the 20th anniverary of wreaths going to Arlington National Cemetery, but for the thousands of WWII veterans who we lose each day - to let them know one final time that we will never forget.

To place all the wreaths this year it will take a lot of hands and a lot of hearts. Planning has to start earlier than ever to make it a reality. If you have connections with a corporation, group, or organization that would like to help us get started - please contact Wreaths Across America HQ.

Arlington Wreaths - 2010

Mark your Calendars!

On Saturday, December 11, 2010, for the 19th consecutive year, Morrill Worcester, owner of Worcester Wreath Company, Harrington, Maine, will again donate thousands of Maine balsam fir holiday wreaths to be placed on graves at Arlington National Cemetery. This year, in conjunction with wreaths sponsored through the Wreaths Across America program, there will be approximately 20,000 wreaths placed at Arlington in Sections 28, 38, 43 (in the older section of the Cemetery), and Section 60 where many of those lost in our current conflicts are buried.

There will be a short welcome and briefing of all volunteers at 8:30am on that Saturday at the intersection of Lincoln and Mitchell Drives within the Cemetery. There will be signs directing you to the location.

We will start placing wreaths at approximately 9:00am. There will be special wreath ceremonies at the Kennedy Family Memorial at 11:00am; at the Battleship USS Maine Monument at 11:30am and at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Noontime which we hope the volunteers will also attend.

Last year over 5,000 volunteers helping to honor and remember our American Veterans buried at Arlington. We expect this number to be even greater this year.

Due to the large number of volunteers expected, and the limited parking spaces available, we encourage everyone who can to please use the Metro Rail system (Blue Line) to get to Arlington Cemetery. Limited parking will be available in the Cemetery’s Employee and Administrative Parking lots (off King Drive) and along specific roads located to the East of Eisenhower Drive (King Drive, Leahy Drive, McClellan Drive and Halsey Drive). There will be signs posted to direct you to these locations.

To learn more about the Arlington Project and other wreath locations check out www.wreathsacrossamerica.org.

More later.

Wreaths Across America - Arlington Update

Wayne Hanson sends this missive via email:

Hundreds of people continue to contact me wanting to help. We could have well over 5,000 or more volunteers on Saturday. What great support for this salute to honor our fallen heroes. With that many volunteers please be understanding and take only one wreath per person so all can participate. Allow those more senior to take the easy parts of the cemetery to place their wreaths. Take your time in placing the wreaths, it is not a race. Stop and read the stone, thank the person for their service, talk to your children about what sacrifices have been made for their freedom. The gates will open at 0600 hours. Take Metro (Blue Line) if at all possible. Parking is limited. Remember, no food or drinks other than water is allowed inside the Cemetery grounds. Also, Arlington Cemetery is hallowed ground and deserves our utmost respect. No soccer balls, footballs or Frisbees. It is not a park. Watch and dress for the weather conditions for Saturday. See you all there. P.S. We will have a wreath clean-up on January 30, 2010. More later.

Wayne Hanson
Maine State Society

My family and I will not be present this year but we have participated in this endeavor for a few years now and I can attest that it is a wonderfully moving experience. Take Wayne's advice, and ARRIVE EARLY...very early infact. Be there well before 0800 as traffic can and will back up getting into the Cemetary.

Arlington Wreath Laying Opportunity

On Saturday, December 12, 2009, Morrill Worcester, owner of Worcester Wreath Company, Harrington, Maine, will donate over 15,000 Maine balsam fir holiday wreaths to be placed on graves at the Arlington National Cemetery. This will be the 18th consecutive year that Mr. Worcester has donated wreaths at Arlington.

This year, Cemetery officials have assigned us Sections 2, 9, 31 and 37 within the Cemetery for these wreaths to be placed. There will be a short welcome and briefing of all volunteers at 8:30am on that Saturday at the McClellan Arch on McClellan Drive (same place as last year).

We will start placing wreaths at approximately 9:00am. There will a special wreath ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Noontime which we hope the volunteers will stay to attend. To learn more about the Arlington project and other wreath locations, check out www.wreathsacrossamerica.org .

Last December we had approximately 4,000 volunteers helping in this tribute to our fallen American Heroes. Based on the calls and e-mails I have received, I expect the number of volunteers to be even larger this year. Due to the large number of volunteers expected, and the limited parking spaces available, we encourage everyone who can to please use the Metro Rail system (Blue Line) to get to Arlington National Cemetery. Limited parking will be available in the Cemetery’s Employee and Administrative Parking lots (off King Drive) and along specific roads located to the East of Eisenhower Drive (King Drive, Leahy Drive, McClellan Drive and Halsey Drive).

There will be signs posted to direct you to these locations. To help with the traffic bottleneck problems the Cemetery will again has agreed to open a Service Entrance Gate located at the South end of the Cemetery near the intersection of South Joyce Street and Columbia Pike. If you must drive, please check out this entrance as an alternate to the main entrance to the Cemetery.

I look forward to seeing you all there.

If you have never participated in this endeavor, I highly recommend that you do, You will not be disappointed, however, to make the 8:30 breifing, I suggest you get there VERY early. Last year my family and I left Frederick at 0700 and we arrived at the exit off of the George Washingotn parkway by 0730, however did not arrive at McClellan Arch until 0900 due to traffic back-ups on the way into Arlington National Cemetery!

Wreaths Across America - Arlington

On Saturday morning we left the house at 7:15 for the 40 minute drive to Arlington National Cemetery, almost 2 hours later we pulled into a parking spot on Bradley Boulevard not far from McClellan Arch the site of the briefing being given by the Worcester Wreath Company for their annual Christmas Wreath Laying at the National Cemeteries a part of Wreaths Across America.

2 hours, with most of that time being spent on the George Washington Parkway 100 yards short of the ramp to Memorial Bridge – why - because so many wonderful people volunteered their time to come out and help lay wreaths on the graves of our fallen heroes.

Walking up we were greeted by the sight of thousands of volunteers queued up for wreathes, and a large portion of the section we were assigned, already bedecked in wreathes. It was quite the site.









The heroes we were privledged to honor:
Benjamin Semmeff - Veteran of WWI and WWII.


G. Baldini - Veteran of WWI


Cecil D. McCutcheon - Veteran of WWI


TSGT Alvon S. Cummings WWII


George Burton - Veteran of WWI



Some Scenes from the day:
A group of Marine's Laying a wreath on one of their own.


Generations...


Volunteers in the landscape.


After laying our wreaths, we made our way to the Tomb of the Unknown to watch the wreath laying there.







We ended the day where we did last year, at the grave of one of Frederick's own...Cpt John Ryan Dennison.