Wreaths Across America coming to QC

Holiday wreaths soon will be placed on the graves of more than 1,000 soldiers at the Rock Island National Cemetery on Arsenal Island.

The cemetery will participate in the national Wreaths Across America program and conduct a remembrance ceremony at 11 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 17, at the cemetery.

The cemetery’s remembrance event will include the laying of ceremonial wreaths to honor each of the military services, POWs, and all veterans – past and present. The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs works hand-in-hand with the national nonprofit Wreaths Across America organization across the country to assist in the remembrance and recognition of our veteran population during the holiday season.

This is a special event and vetting will take place at the gate and will not require obtaining a visitor’s pass to access the installation and the cemetery.

The keynote speaker will be Col. Daniel D. Mitchell, garrison commander, U.S. Army Garrison Rock Island Arsenal. He took command on July 14. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy West Point and holds a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in defense analysis and strategic studies. 

The garrison provides facilities and base operations support and services to all Rock Island Arsenal tenants in the areas of law enforcement, crime prevention, security management, fire, safety, information management, facilities engineering, housing, infrastructure maintenance, and transportation. The installation is home to more than 50 tenant organizations providing critical products and services to the armed services. It employs more than 5,000 military, civilian and contractor personnel.

Quad Citians who would like to sponsor a wreath can contact Wreaths Across America at www.wreathsacrossamerica.org. This program ensures that the more than 1,600 individuals buried at Rock Island National Cemetery, who served to protect our freedoms and country, are not and will never be forgotten.

Each year, the Wreaths Across America program ensures that remembrance wreaths will be placed at the headstones of fallen veterans at nearly 1,000 locations across the country and overseas. 

For more information, go to the Wreaths Across America website or the Facebook page.