To the editor:
It was nearly three years ago, that “Wreaths of Remembrance” was started. My family and I, began our new Veteran’s Day tradition of placing wreaths on the graves of every veteran buried in our town cemetery. It began with only a small family group, and a local U.S. Navy veteran, but now I have a dream for it. A dream that envisions cemeteries, in small towns and large cities, all across America. And in every cemetery, on each Veteran’s grave, a flag-decorated balsam wreath has been placed.
My dream is to see the project spread, through a grassroots movement of dedicated Americans joining from town to town, and state to state, until ‘Wreaths of Remembrance” stretches from here to the West Coast. You see, I don’t want to just decorate one town cemetery … I want all cemeteries to be decorated, but to do that we need more members volunteering to help us.
As a small, non-profit organization, our mission is exactly as our name states: to remember. To remember our veterans and to honor our nation’s dead. Our freedom was not just a gift. It was paid for through the blood, suffering and lives of all our soldiers from the American Revolution until now. Our goal here is to see that we never forget that. That America, and future generations, never lose sight of where and to whom, we owe our debt of gratitude for our liberty.
We must never allow ourselves to forget, or take for granted the sacrifices of our Armed Forces. How they fought in the service of this great country, to preserve our freedom, and to bring that freedom to suppressed peoples and countries all around the world. How they have laid down their lives for our American ideals, for equality, for the rights of humanity.
Patriotism, and love of one’s country often seems to be painfully out of style these days. Americans seems to think now that heroes are to be found on television, in Superheros, in teen idols and music stars … but these are not our real American Heroes. Our heroes are something much different. They are seldom on most of America’s mind, and get far too little recognition for the job they do, but they are heroes nonetheless.
Our heroes wear the face of a young Marine, the pride of his Graduation Day still upon him. Our heroes walk the rolling deck of a Navy ship, save lives in the Coast Guard. Their hands are at the controls of every Air Force jet. Their feet march under the broiling sun of the desert. They lie buried beneath the sands of the South Pacific, in the fields of France, and under our own Nation’s soil.
They are our Military; the Armed Forces of today, who still go out to fight, and those of yesterday, who have already fought their fight and made their sacrifices – our Veterans, living and dead.
I want, through our Wreaths of Remembrance project, to help keep alive some of the disappearing spirit of patriotism, pride in our great land, and respect for our Heroes, who have suffered, bled and even died for us, so that we might be free. What we are really trying to do here, is to see that all veterans in cemeteries all across the United States, get remembered and honored each year through the work of our organization. Help us make a difference, starting now, right in our small hometowns!
Anyone who is looking to get involved, if you want more information on what we do, or if you want to donate wreaths to our project, please contact us. We would be happy to hear from any dedicated Americans looking to join us.
Are you proud to be an American? I am! What better way to show your pride than by honoring those who served? And who is better fitted to do the job than ‘We the People’? Please contact us through email WreathsofRemembranceUSA@gmail.com
