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Remember the fallen.
Honor those who serve.
Teach the next generation the value of freedom.
That's the mission of the Wreaths Across America project, one that has been fulfilled every year since 1992. It's a commitment that will be met on Saturday, as wreath-laying ceremonies are held at Arlington National Cemetery and thousands of cemeteries and other locations across the country.
That work is carried out by volunteers whose efforts ensure that the graves of service members again will be honored with the placement of live, balsam veteran's wreaths. More than 3,700 locations on land, sea and abroad are scheduled to participate in this year's ceremonies.
Services have been planned for many locations throughout the Tri-State Area, each of which will be part of a bigger effort that seeks to remember the men and women who have served and sacrificed from the Revolutionary War to our present conflicts.
According to the national organization, more than 2 million volunteers helped to place more than 2.7 million wreaths at 3,702 locations last year. A third of those volunteers, the organization added, were children. At Arlington National Cemetery alone, 275,000 wreaths were delivered by 68 tractor-trailers and were placed by 28,000 volunteers.
Around the country, 644 truckloads of wreaths are being delivered by volunteer professional truck drivers using donated equipment and fuel that was supplied by around 300 transportation partners, the organization added.
Many locations around the Tri-State Area will be participating in the national event.
A combined observance for Union and Mount Calvary cemeteries in Steubenville, Fort Steuben Burial Estates and Two Ridges Cemetery in Wintersville will be held at Harding Stadium. Gates will open at 11:30 a.m. and the observance will begin at 11:55 a.m. Afterward, the volunteers will head to their respective cemeteries to lay wreaths.
Other area observances will be held at numerous locations, including St. Casimir Cemetery in Smithfield; New Cumberland Cemetery; Richmond Presbyterian Church Cemetery; Richmond Union Cemetery; Bergholz Cemetery; the Amsterdam Memorial Wall; East Springfield Cemetery; Friendship Veterans Memorial Park; Unionport Cemetery; Oakland Cemetery in Mingo Junction; Pine Run Cemetery; Paris Cemetery, Bloomingdale Cemetery; Shaffer Cemetery; Mount Moriah Cemetery; Rehoboth Pioneer Cemetery; Holmes Pioneer Cemetery; and the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies in Bridgeville, Pa., which sits near the border of Allegheny and Washington counties. A special ceremony will be held at noon at James Funeral Home in Follansbee.
Karen Worchester, the executive director of Wreaths Across America, best sums up the work that will be done on Saturday when she says, "We are not here to decorate graves. We are to remember not their deaths, but their lives."
Thanks to everyone who has helped to organize the ceremonies, has volunteered to place wreaths or who will take part in one of the remembrances.
Your participation in the program will ensure that it will continue to meet its goal of remembering the fallen, honoring those who serve and their families and teaching future generations about the sacrifices that have been made to preserve our freedoms.