Veterans’ Wreaths Across America set for Dec. 16

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To the editor:

It is said that a veteran dies two deaths — one when his or her body actually dies, and one when people stop remembering them and stop saying their name out loud.

Once again, the people of Shelby County have shown they remember, honor and respect our veterans. The national Wreaths Across America project which began at Arlington National Cemetery and now has spread to over 1,000 locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea, and abroad, has taken root in Sidney, Ohio. Our initial efforts in 2016 resulted in 166 wreaths being placed on veterans’ graves, but this year’s project has grown and will see 400 wreaths being placed on Dec. 16 at noon at Graceland. This is truly remarkable and shows what a great heart you have for our veterans.

In 2014, Wreaths Across America and its national network of volunteers laid over 700,000 memorial wreaths at 1,000 locations in the United States and beyond, including ceremonies at the Pearl Harbor Memorial, as well as Bunker Hill, Valley Forge and the sites of the September 11 tragedies. The organization’s goal of covering Arlington National Cemetery was met in 2014 with the placement of 226,525 wreaths.

Locally, our ceremonies will take place on Dec. 16, 2017, at Graceland Cemetery beginning at noon. If you signed up to help with this project, please plan to be at the maintenance building at the cemetery between 10:30 and 11 a.m. Also, if you purchased a wreath and planned to pick it up to take it to a particular grave site in Graceland or at another cemetery, you can pick yours up immediately after the ceremony at the maintenance building. Our volunteers will be there to assist you.

If you would like to help with this project, please feel free to come even if you did not sign up. We will have plenty of wreaths to place and could use your help. If you are a veteran or the family of a veteran, we also invite you to come and see what this is all about and share in our remembrance of veterans at this time of year. The Committee wants to take this opportunity to thank the citizens of Sidney and Shelby County for their financial support. We couldn’t have done any of this without you. You’re the greatest!

Michael J. Bennett

For The Vets to DC Committee

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