PATTEN, Maine – A Patten Gold Star couple is traveling with the Wreaths Across America Convoy of 53 vehicles, including 10 tractor trailers, through Maine on its nearly 900 mile trip to Arlington National Cemetery.
“It is amazing, the first year I did it, I came home and cried for three days and that’s not counting the times I cried along the way,” said Gold Star Mother Lorna Harris, whose son, Army Specialist Dustin Harris, was killed in action in 2006 in Iraq.
Harris and her husband Scott Harris of Patten have been part of the national convoy for more than a decade and this year they will be helping to transport other Gold Star families to the cemetery for the laying of wreaths on all the graves in the national cemetery on Saturday.
In 2010, Harris went as a Gold Star Mother, joining the convoy in the last leg of the journey as it entered Arlington.
But since that time the Patten couple has volunteered their time for more than a week to transport truckloads of wreaths, drive Gold Star families and participate in ceremonies in schools, libraries and other community locations along the route.
“Dustin can no longer serve, so we serve for him,” Harris said.
In 1992, Morrill Worcester, the owner of the Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, along with his wife Karen, had surplus wreaths near the end of the holiday season. So they made arrangements to have the wreaths placed on veteran graves in Arlington, a location that held special meaning for Worcester after winning a trip there through the Bangor Daily News as a 12-year-old paperboy. ‘
For several years the Worcesters continued the annual wreath laying in Arlington and other cemeteries to honor veterans. But it wasn’t until a photo of the wreaths on headstones in the national cemetery garnered national attention in 2005 did it gain more support. And in 2007, Worcester founded Wreaths Across America.
The Harrises got connected to the program after Harris’ dad was in Bangor in 2008 and saw the Worcesters in Bangor as part of a Wreaths Across America event.
“He was a very proud grandfather and he found Mrs. Worcester and placed a picture of Dustin in her hand and said, ‘would you take my grandson to Arlington with you,’” Harris said.
According to Harris, Karen Worcester still carries the picture of Dustin Harris in her wallet.
Dustin Harris graduated from Katahdin High School in 2002. After graduation he attended Eastern Maine Community College for two years studying diesel mechanics. He enlisted in the US Army in 2004, said Harris.
Spc. Harris was assigned to Fort Wainwright, in Fairbanks, Alaska with the 172nd Brigade Support Battalion, and 101st Airborne Division Air Assault as a heavy wheeled vehicle operator. He attended Airborne School at Fort Benning, GA where he qualified as a paratrooper. In 2005 he was deployed to Mosul, Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in support of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.
On April 6, 2006 while on patrol, he was killed by an improvised explosive device in Bayji, Iraq. Harris is buried at home in Patten, his mother said.
As part of the national convoy, the Harrises brought wreaths to the Mt. Chase and Patten cemeteries. Last year they placed 350, this year they placed 425 on veteran graves, including one for Dustin.
Additionally, they placed wreaths and a 36-inch military appreciation wreath at the veterans memorial honor roll outside the Patten Regular Baptist Church that was saved from demolition by a town vote earlier this year and is now a very active community center.
“It was a truly moving experience for us to be part of this remembrance of and honor for such brave selfless and courageous men and women of our armed forces who put their country first. As our organization promotes protecting and keeping the town’s history alive, we look forward to caring for these monuments,” said Marcia Pond, founder of the Patten Cultural Center who led the effort to save the church.
The Wreaths Across America convoy kicked off with a sunrise ceremony at Quoddy Lighthouse on Saturday and officially started moving in Harrington. There was a parade in Millbridge, an event at Ellsworth YMCA, a parade in Belfast, then on to Gardiner Middle School, Portia, Portland, the American Legion in Auburn, leaving the state on Sunday night.
This week they will travel through Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
The convoy will end its journey on Dec. 16 in Arlington.
