Arlington National Cemetery short by some 35,000 wreaths

The Maine organization that each year provides tens of thousands of holiday wreaths for Arlington National Cemetery gravesites says it’s falling short of its goal this year – by some 35,000 wreaths.

“Some of our larger corporate-type sponsors that we have are spreading our their donations a little bit,” says Wayne Hanson, Chairman of the Board of Wreaths Across America.

That’s because Wreaths Across America now provides free wreaths to nearly 900 cemeteries across the country. When they started 22 years ago, it was just Arlington that it served.

“That tells me that people never forget these people and appreciate what they’ve done and how they’ve served,” says veteran Doug Sanford, visiting Arlington National Cemetery for the first time from his home in Alabama. “And that’s just, I guess you might say, a token of their appreciation.”

“I give the briefing in the morning when we put the wreaths down,” Mr. Hanson says. “I always tell everybody that behind every stone there is a story.”

They started their program just placing wreaths in Section 27 – the oldest part of the cemetery where civil war soldiers are buried.

“And (I tell the volunteers) you might be the somebody there to remember them in decades. Nobody else has been there. Their relatives may have long gone,” Hanson says.

If you’d like to contribute, we have the link to Wreaths Across America. A $15 donation buys one additional wreath.

For information on how you can help, click here for a link to the Wreaths Across America website:

http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/