Wreaths Across America
The Saturday morning was crisp, with mounds of cookies and gallons of free coffee for the hundreds of people gathered at Miramar National Cemetery and Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery to remember, honor and teach during the 2015 Wreaths Across America ceremony.
“We have a very large veteran community in San Diego, with 240,000 veterans, we are all part of this large family,” said Ed Berger, San Diego County veteran of the year.
Wreaths Across America is a national nonprofit organization founded in 2007 as an extension of the Arlington Wreath Project. The project was started in 1992 when the owner of the Worchester Wreath Company, Morrill Worcester, had extra wreaths. Worchester, with some help, decided to place the extra wreaths in an older section of Arlington National Cemetery, which wasn’t receiving as much attention as the newer sections. The project continued to grow and became Wreaths Across America, which has over 800 participating locations.
Last year 716,000 wreaths were placed nationally, but in most locations there aren’t enough for every headstone to have one. The wreaths are made Maine, with a $15 donation equaling one wreath. Anyone can sponsor a wreath and you can make the wreaths in honor or in memory of a loved one.
In San Diego, Wreaths Across America was at Miramar National Cemetery and Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery on Saturday, Dec. 12.
With only a few thousands wreaths, not every headstone at both San Diego cemeteries received a wreath. Volunteers and loved ones were instructed to place wreaths on every other headstone.
“There may not be a lot of people that come out to visit these national cemeteries, but this national wreath day is a day that draws attention to the men and women who are interred at these memorial cemeteries and the scarifies that have made,” said Berger.
During the ceremony Berger laid a wreath remembering and honoring the fallen during 9/11.
“We enjoy all these freedoms, not because someone says you’re free, somebody had to do something. Who did it?” As Berger gestures to the thousands of graves, he said, “It was all these people. All these who are interred here. They stood up and said ‘I’ll take the job. It will be my job. I’ll make the pledge to give up whatever I need to do to preserve the safety and freedoms of the country.’”
Berger points to the gravestones, with their unique religious symbols, some with the Star of David and some with a cross, some with nothing. “Everyone who is right here are our brothers and sisters. We haven’t met them, but we know we are all part of the same family. We all took the same oath. We made the choice to stand up for freedom and to stand up for our way of life.”
Wreaths Across America is held the second Saturday of December, with thousands of wreaths delivered across the nation. Please consider sponsoring a wreath next year so every headstone and veterans will be remembered.
By Sarah Luken
