Saturday was Wreaths across America Day, when volunteers with the national organization carried out coordinated wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery and 1,600 other locations around the U.S., including the Iowa Veterans Cemetery in Van Meter, in order “to show our veterans and their families that we will not forget. We will never forget.”
Founded in 2007, Wreaths across America is a national non-profit organization. Wreaths across America Executive Director Karen Dow Worcester is the wife of Morrill Worcester, owner of Worcester Wreath Co. in Harrington, Maine. In 2014, Wreaths Across America volunteers placed more than 700,000 wreaths at 1,000 locations in the U.S., including the Pearl Harbor Memorial, Bunker Hill, Valley Forge and 9/11 Ground Zero.
According to the Wreaths across America website, “We understand we have Veterans Day in the fall and Memorial Day in the spring, but our service members sacrifice their time and safety every single day of the year to preserve our freedoms. In many homes, there is an empty seat for one who is serving or one who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. There is no better time to express our appreciation than during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.”
