Claim: Photograph shows
Christmas wreaths laid at headstones in Arlington National Cemetery.
Example:[Collected via e-mail, 2005]
I had never
heard of this. I have only visited in the summer months. I wonder
why the press hasn't enlightened the public about it?
Arlington National Cemetery
Rest easy, sleep well my brothers. Know
the line has held, your job is done. Rest easy, sleep well.
Others have taken up where you fell, the line has held.
Peace, peace, and farewell...
Readers may be interested to know that these
wreaths some 5,000 are donated by the Worcester Wreath Co. of
Harrington, Maine. The owner, Merrill Worcester, not only provides
the wreaths, but covers the trucking expense as well. He's done this
since 1992. A wonderful guy. Also, most years, groups of Maine
school kids combine an educational trip to DC with this event to
help out. Making this even more remarkable is the fact that
Harrington is in one the poorest parts of the state.
Origins: The
first photograph displayed above is a
Christmas-season picture of graves at Arlington
National Cemetery, the final resting place of men and women who served the
United States in the military and in the government. Every December since
1992, volunteers have laid wreaths donated by the Worcester Wreath
Company of Harrington, Maine, at the headstones of over 5,000 of America's
honored dead.
Morrill Worcester initially brought 4,000 surplus
wreaths from the holiday decoration company he owns to adorn gravesites at
Arlington in 1992. Every year since then he has set aside several thousand
wreaths especially for that purpose, driving to Arlington in December with
a trailer full of decorations and dozens of volunteers to distribute them
throughout the cemetery. As Mr. Worcester told an Air Force
reporter in 2005:
We couldn't do
anything in this country if it wasn't for the people who gave their lives
to protect us. It's a great honor to be able to come here and pay our
respects.
That first year, there were just a few of us, and it
took us five or six hours to get them placed. This year, we had extra help
and got done in about an hour.
One question we're commonly
asked is how the Arlington Wreath Project determines where to place their
wreaths, since Arlington National Cemetery encompasses many thousands of
graves, but the Project places only 5,000 wreaths each year. Major Wayne
Merritt, a co-director of the Project, told us that the director of the
cemetery selects the location for each year's wreath-laying, and the
Project's plan is to cover all the areas of the park over a number of
years.
In 2006, Mr. Worcester hopes to expand the
Arlington Wreath Project into Wreaths Across
America, an effort to place memorial wreaths at more than 230 State
and National Cemeteries and Veterans Monuments across the United States.
The 2006 wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington (and other sites)
will take place on December 14. Persons interested in
participating in this event should contact Wayne Hanson at (703)
971-4148. Those who cannot attend in person may participate by
observing a moment of silence at noon hour on December 14 "to
reflect on the sacrifices made and freely given by those who will not be
home for the holidays."
The clip displayed below is a seven-minute
video of past wreath-laying ceremonies put together by Worcester Wreath to
show what the Arlington Wreath Project and Wreaths Across America is all
about:
Additional information:
How the Arlington Wreath Project Was Born
Last
updated: 18 November 2006
The URL for this page is
http://www.snopes.com/photos/military/wreaths.asp
Sources:
