Wreaths honor sacrifice of U.S. veterans
Volunteers nationwide take part in annual remembrance
Volunteers nationwide take part in annual remembrance
Volunteers nationwide take part in annual remembrance
Millions of volunteers across the country spent Saturday laying wreaths on the graves of American veterans as part of the annual Wreaths Across America.
That included a group in Hudson, who decorated the nearly 400 military graves in that town. The work is coordinated to happen at the same time in every state, with volunteers reading from the same script. They vow to remember how the fallen Americans lived, rather than how they died.
"They had a family. Their family still remembers them," says Comd. John Henry McArdle with Thresher Base United States Submarine Veterans. "They live that loss every day, and I don't think we give them enough opportunity to be represented or be made aware of our gratitude for the sacrifice that family has made."
In Portsmouth, anonymous donors also provided 16 wreaths for the U.S.S. Albacore, to support the facility's mission of honoring fallen servicemembers and teaching future generations about the value of freedom. This year's ceremony included the mother of an Army veteran killed in a fishing accident in Texas earlier this year.
"Our military, whether they're active duty or they're veterans or if they've been lost in a war or conflict, need to be remembered," says Patricia Violette, the executive director at Albacore Park.