Christmas gift of love delivered in Casselberry today

Rain did not stop Wreaths Across America in Florida

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 15, 2018

This morning in Casselberry Florida, a large group gathered together to make sure the veterans buried at All Faiths Memorial Park were not forgotten. It did not matter that it was raining.

Sgt. Dave Matthews of Never Forgotten Memorials was the MC.

URGENT Bay Pines Cemetery won't have enough wreaths unless you help

Bay Pines Cemetery struggles to put wreath on every veteran's grave

FOX 13 News
Catherine Hawley
November 29, 2018

Right now, Bay Pines is at 5 percent of its goal, meaning more than 32,000 graves won't get a wreath.

ST. PETERSBURG (FOX 13) - Each December, volunteers place hundreds of thousands of evergreen, live wreaths on the graves of veterans.

The program started at Arlington National Cemetery in 1992 and now takes place in more than 1,400 cemeteries across the country, including in the Bay Area.

For Ronalee Klase, her brother, Billy's grave couldn't be more perfect.

"I always kid, I say it’s right on the edge just where he lived life," Klase said.

Billy Klase was a Vietnam vet, a martial arts expert, and an avid skydiver. He was laid to rest at Bay Pines National Cemetery in St. Petersburg 14 years ago.

"We try to come out on the anniversary of his death and put some flowers down for him," said Klase.

She also makes sure he gets a wreath during the holiday season.

The cemetery is one of hundreds across the country taking part in Wreaths Across America. Every December, volunteers lay evergreens on the graves of our fallen soldiers, saying every name out loud.
read more here

Over 1 Million Volunteers Lay Wreaths in Remembrance

This organization honors fallen soldiers with graveside wreaths
TUE, DEC 19
With over 1 million volunteers, Wreaths Across America has paid tribute to veterans with over 1.5 million wreaths at 1,422 cemeteries nationwide.

Over 44,000 Volunteers Placed Wreaths At Arlington National Cemetery

Stunning images of Arlington National Cemetery with Wreaths Across America.

Photos: 44,000 volunteers brave icy weather to lay wreaths for veterans
WTOP News
By Kathy Stewart
December 17, 2016

ARLINGTON, Va. — More than 44,000 volunteers turned out even in the icy, cold and rainy weather to carefully lay 245,000 remembrance wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday, as part of “Wreaths Across America.”

It was the 25th year that wreaths have been placed at Arlington National Cemetery. The theme for this year’s event was #SayTheirNames.

The wreaths are placed at grave sites nationwide to honor and remember fallen veterans and their service. After placing a wreath, volunteers are encouraged to take time to read the headstone, to honor the memory of that fallen hero and to say the veteran’s name out loud.

For Julie Hunter from Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, this has become an annual pilgrimage. The experience, for her, is a somber one.

“You see all kinds of people that come together from all different walks of life just being grateful for the service and the lives that were lost,” Hunter said.

This year was the first time that Wendy Nixon from North Carolina volunteered to place the wreaths. She lost her 21-year-old brother-in-law; he was killed in Iraq. She was awe-struck by the event at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday.

“People come from all over just to do this,” she said. “No words can even describe, you know?”

And when the volunteers’ work was all done, the scene left behind is breathtaking: a sea of beautiful balsam wreaths with red bows at Christmastime.
read more here

Wreaths Across America Heading to Arlington

Convoy of wreaths departs for Arlington National Cemetery 
Associated Press
Published: December 6, 2015

All told, Wreaths Across America expects to ship more than 900,000 wreaths to veterans' graves in hundreds of locations in all 50 states and overseas.

Trucks bearing wreaths from Maine arrive at Arlington National Cemetery for Wreaths Across America, Dec. 13, 2014. JOE GROMELSKI/STARS AND STRIPES

COLUMBIA FALLS, Maine — A convoy of a dozen trucks carrying wreaths made in Maine departed Sunday for Arlington National Cemetery, where the greenery will adorn the graves of military veterans.

A box truck and 11 tractor-trailers left Columbia Falls with the bulk of the 248,000 wreaths that will be placed on gravesites in Arlington, said Susan Patten, a spokeswoman for Wreaths Across America. read more here

Wreaths Across America Honors Fallen Back to Revolutionary War

Wreaths Across America ceremony honors fallen colonial soldiers
Newark Post Online
By Josh Shannon
Mon Dec 15, 2014

NEWARK POST PHOTO BY JOSH SHANNON
Wreaths Across America
Kevin Conley's service dog Angus, who helps him control his PTSD symptoms, mingles among the crowd at the Wreaths Across America ceremony at Pencader Heritage Museum on Saturday.

As part of a nationwide observance, dozens gathered Saturday near the site of the Battle of Cooch’s Bridge to lay wreaths in honor of the 24 colonial soldiers who died in the only Revolutionary War battle fought in Delaware.

“When our forefathers came to this ground in 1777, on their lips and in their minds was what freedom really stands for: independence and liberty,” State Rep. Earl Jaques told the crowd gathered at the Pencader Heritage Museum on Route 72. “They gave us that with their blood and with their ultimate sacrifice.”

Jaques, a brigadier general in the Delaware National Guard, was one of 10 people chosen to lay the wreaths, which are part of the Wreaths Across America program.

The effort began in 1992 when the Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington, Maine, had a surplus of wreaths and arranged to have them laid on graves at Arlington National Cemetery. The tradition continued, largely unnoticed, until 2005, when a photo of the wreaths went viral online.

The attention led to an influx of funds and volunteers, and the project expanded. Today, more than 540,000 wreaths are laid at 900 locations in all 50 states and in cemeteries on foreign soil.
read more here

10,000 Wreaths For Sarasota National Cemetery

10,000 holiday wreaths to be placed on graves at Sarasota National Cemetery
Bradenton Herald
BY JAMES A. JONES JR.
November 21, 2014

Wreaths Across America holiday wreath-laying ceremonies have been held at Sarasota National Cemetery since its opening in 2009. Next month, Sarasota Military Academy students and local veterans will place the wreaths on Dec. 13, starting at 9:30 a.m., followed by a ceremony at 11:30 a.m. FILE PHOTO

BRADENTON -- Last year, 6,300 holiday wreaths were placed on grave sites at Sarasota National Cemetery.

This year, 10,000 will be needed to decorate each of the final resting places for veterans there.

Don Courtney, president of the Manatee Veterans Council, updated the group at the monthly meeting Thursday.

Sarasota National Cemetery opened in January 2009 and averages about 10 funeral services a day. Among the

Notable veterans at rest there is Tampa's Rick Casares, who served in the Army. Mr. Casares died last year. He was a star fullback at the University of Florida and played 12 years in the NFL with the Chicago Bears, Washington Redskins and Miami Dolphins.

Sarasota Military Academy students and local veterans will place the wreaths starting at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 13, followed by a ceremony at 11:30 a.m.
read more here