A father watched his son place a wreath on one of the tombstones. As the boy ran to place another, his father called him back to read the name and pay respect to that fallen soldier....and also to fix the bow.
In the United States, where we can spout healthcare negativities on Facebook, call our President horrible names over dinner, and christianly judge those Islamic women who wear burqas in public, we sometimes forget those freedoms (which we exercise so well) come with a a price. From the Revolutionary War to the War on Terrorism, men (and even women) have been giving their lives for this country, and this fact is oftentimes left out of our happy homes.
On Saturday, this was not the case, as I witnessed thousands of individuals join together on a random day, not Veteran's or Memorial Day, to respect, honor, and teach by placing more than 100,000 wreaths (sadly, this fell short of the ~400,000 needed) on headstones. With people taking great care in honoring the individual by placing the wreath properly, paying respect to that fallen individual, and teaching their children to do the same, it was a day that will forever be etched into my memories.
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| Entrance to the cemetery. |
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| One of the stages where the opening ceremony took place. |
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| These semis, filled with wreaths, were scattered throughout the grounds. |
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| A portion of our group who attended. |
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| Wreaths! They smelled sooooo good! |
The individuals I paid respect to....
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| Albert Ray Brownfield, Jr. served in WWII and the Vietnam War and commanded units in Japan, Alaska, and North Carolina. |
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| Reynolds Condon served in WWII. |
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| Alfred D. Starbird served in WWII. |
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| Leverett M. Kelley served in the Civil War (Illinois infantry). |
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| Charles Johnston Badger served in the Spanish-American War and WWI. |
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| Williams Noble Williams |
And then the photo shoot.....
