For every family missing their soldier, the holidays represent a bittersweet season. The flood of happy memories are confronted by the knowledge there will be an empty seat around the table, an unfilled stocking, a laugh missing from the conversation.
To honor and remember the lives of our fallen heroes, Wreaths Across America coordinates wreath laying ceremonies on a specified Saturday in December each year at Arlington, as well as veterans’ cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond.
This year, National Wreaths Across America Day is December 13. Members of our foundation will be volunteering at Arlington and in our home towns, and we’d like to invite you to participate with us. There will be wreath laying ceremonies all around the country, and we encourage you to check out the event locator for your nearest ceremony. And if you’re able to participate, please consider sharing a photo from the day on our Facebook page, to help draw awareness to this special act of remembrance.
While some of these gravesides are well-tended by friends and family through the year, for others this may be the only visit they received this year. Either way, it’s important to take time to read the stone and honor the memory of that hero, just as we’ll all be doing for the crew of Ratchet 33.
Photo caption: Ratchett 33 memorial site at Arlington, 2012