Thousands of holiday wreaths will soon decorate the graves at the Rock Island National Cemetery on Arsenal Island thanks to the Wreaths Across America campaign.
The annual wreath-laying ceremony is set for 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, with many volunteers placing holiday wreaths on the graves of service members at the cemetery.
This year, more than 2 million volunteers and supporters will gather on that day to place them at more than 4,000 participating locations in all 50 states and sites overseas, according to the national organization. Last year, more than 2.7 million veterans’ wreaths were placed by volunteers on headstones at 3,702 participating locations around the country in honor of the service and sacrifices made for our freedoms, with each name said out loud during ceremonies.
The events across the nation symbolizes a commitment to remember and honor the nation’s veterans through the laying of wreaths on the graves of our country’s fallen heroes and the act of saying the name of each veteran aloud.
How to volunteer in QC
On the local front, volunteers will gather on Dec. 16 to place thousands of these holiday symbols at the Rock Island National Cemetery, which has about 33,500 graves. In past years, about 2,500 wreaths have been placed. However, according to the national WAA organization, 3,381 wreaths have been sponsored for placement at the Rock Island cemetery. (Find more information on volunteering here.)
“We’re doing this to teach people about the value of freedom,” said Colten Hilgendorf, an employee with RSM US, who will be one of about 20 volunteers from that company to place wreaths at Rock Island National Cemetery later this month. “We want people to remember the fallen.”
In an interview with the QCBJ, Mr. Hilgendorf said his group will be just one of the volunteer groups helping with the wreath placement at the Rock Island cemetery. There will be other groups, but he is not sure how many volunteers will participate.
Wreaths Across America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to continue and expand the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery begun by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester in 1992. The organization’s yearlong mission – Remember, Honor, Teach – is carried out in part each year by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies in December at Arlington, as well as at thousands of veterans’ cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond.
