By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, Va., Dec. 17, 2012 – As thousands of
volunteers fanned out here this weekend, placing holiday wreaths at the
white headstones as part of the “Wreaths Across America” tribute,
Sheila Patton kept vigil at one particular gravesite.
Sheila
Patton, mother of Army Staff Sgt. James R. Patton, who was killed in
Iraq in 2010, traveled with her daughter from Fort Campbell, Ky., to
Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia to participate in the “Wreaths
Across America” tribute to fallen U.S. service members, Dec. 15, 2012.
DOD photo by William Miles
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. |
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Patton and her daughter stationed themselves at the grave of their
son and brother, Army Staff Sgt. James R. Patton. Twenty-three-year-old
“Jimmy” was serving his seventh overseas deployment since 9/11 with the
3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, when he was killed in a helicopter
crash in Tikrit, Iraq, on April 18, 2010.
Patton said she travels
here from Fort Campbell, Ky., as often as possible. Patton felt a
special calling, she said, to participate in the largest single venue of
the nationwide “Wreaths Across America” tribute.
“This was
something very important to me,” she said. “I really wanted to be here,
to be a part of all this, and to be able to honor Jimmy and all the
others who are buried here.”
Arriving at the cemetery early
Saturday, Dec. 15, Patton and her daughter were in good company. They
were among more than 25,000 volunteers who converged here in the early
hours to lay an estimated 110,000 balsam fir wreaths, each adorned with a
festive red bow.
“It’s amazing to see all this,” Patton said.
“It’s really inspiring to see all these volunteers come out and [to]
realize how much they care.”
This year’s turnout was the largest
since the annual “Wreaths Across America” tradition started in 1992.
Morrill Worcester, president of the Worcester Wreath Company from
Harrington, Maine, began donating holiday wreaths to decorate veterans’
graves. The gesture caught on like wildfire, expanding every year to
more military cemeteries nationwide.
This year, thousands of
volunteers laid an estimated 400,000 evergreen wreaths at almost 800
cemeteries in all 50 states and 24 overseas sites.
At Arlington, the largest venue, a convoy of 34 trucks traveled from Maine to transport the donated wreaths.
Worcester and his wife, Karen, recognized a milestone in the “Wreaths
Across America” effort as he presented the 1 millionth wreath since the
program’s inception to a Gold Star family and wounded warrior.
Mary Byers and her husband, Lloyd, who lost their son, Army Capt. Joshua
Byers, in Iraq in 2003, and Army Sgt. Justin Lansford, wounded in
Afghanistan this past spring, placed the wreath at the grave of Wilbur
Trevant, a Vietnam veteran who died in April.
Looking out over
the sea of volunteers as they gathered for opening ceremonies at
Arlington National Cemetery’s Amphitheater, Karen Worcester challenged
them to live up to the spirit reflected in Byers’ last words as he told
his fellow soldiers to “keep moving forward.”
Worcester spoke
about the deadly shooting in Connecticut the previous day and called on
the group to take inspiration from Byers and the others buried at
Arlington as they deal with life’s challenges.
“We need to take
some advice from Josh and ‘keep moving forward’ with what they’ve taught
us,” she said. “And we need to teach our kids about the character of
America, which is to take care of each other. By taking care of each
other we take care of our country and share the lesson that our heroes
have taught us.”
Among the hundreds of school, church, community
and veterans groups participating in this year’s “Wreaths Across
America” were men and women in uniform, many of whom placed wreaths at
the graves of friends killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Marine
Gunnery Sgt. Brian Evans, assigned to the Combat Service Support Company
at The Basic School at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., said he felt
moved to see so many people take time out of their busy holiday
schedules to honor the fallen.
“This is a chance to recognize and
show others we remember those that went before,” he said. “And it
really does show that the majority of the public still remembers and
appreciates what we do.”
“You know the public appreciates what
you do and when you see all this, it proves that they really do care,”
echoed Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Andrew Boehmer from the Wounded
Warrior Regiment at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va.
Air Force
Staff Sgt. Dominique Purvis, among about 50 members of the 579th Medical
Group based at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Washington, D.C., who
journeyed to Arlington to participate in the tribute, struggled for
words to describe her emotions.
“It’s a beautiful, beautiful
thing,” she said. “You just can’t really understand this kind of
outpouring until you see it for yourself. It’s overwhelming.”
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