Volunteers from the Civil Air Patrol will lay wreaths provided by the nonprofit Wreaths Across America on veteran memorials and gravesites on December 12 in an estimated 400 ceremonies nationwide.
The largest ceremony will be held at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, where CAP cadets and officers will lay an estimated 17,000 wreaths from Maine’s Worcester Wreath Company at memorials and gravesites, and participate in color and honor guards.
"Our mission is to remember the fallen, honor those who serve and teach our children the value of freedom," said Wreaths Across America executive director Karen Worcester.
A December 5 ceremony on the International Bridge, which links the U.S. and Canada, as well as ceremonies at each state capitol will precede the convoy of wreaths from Maine to veterans’ memorials and cemeteries across the country. An estimated 600 to 700 motorcyclists from the Patriot Riders will accompany the trucks to their destinations. A wreath-laying ceremony at the U.S. Capitol will follow on December 7.
This year’s ceremonies will mark the fourth time that Wreaths Across America partnered with the Civil Air Patrol, Worcester Wreath Co. and other veterans’ groups to sponsor national wreath-laying events.
"Laying the wreaths is an honor to our veterans, a service to our communities and a learning experience for our members," said CAP National Commander Maj. Gen. Amy S. Courter.
Wreaths Across America began in 2006 after photographs of the 2005 Arlington Wreath Project gained national media attention, and founder Morill Worcester of the Worcester Wreath Company received thousands of requests from people who wanted to replicate the Arlington wreath-laying ceremonies at veterans’ memorials and cemeteries across the U.S. The group now sponsors ceremonies in all 50 states, as well as at 25 cemeteries and memorials abroad.