Speaking of Arlington National Cemetery, here’s the story of a hidden gesture of appreciation of military service and sacrifice that has spread through the Internet. A Christmas wreath company in Maine for the past several years has brought wreaths—at its own expense—to Arlington each December and laid them on the graves of the soldiers buried there.
“Gift of wreaths touches nation”
Every December for the past 15 years, Morrill Worcester, owner of one of the world’s largest holiday wreath companies, has taken time in the midst of his busiest season to haul a truckload of wreaths to Arlington from his small Downeast Maine town of Harrington.
For years, he and a small band of volunteers laid the wreaths in virtual obscurity. But in the last 12 months that has changed, thanks to a dusting of snow last year at the cemetery, an evocative photograph, a sentimental poem and a chain e-mail. And this year, Worcester went national. A new program, “Wreaths Across America,” shipped a total of about 1,300 wreaths to more than 200 national cemeteries and vets’ memorials in all 50 states.
Worcester, 56, says he wants to help Americans remember and honor deceased military veterans, particularly at Christmas, when they’re missed most. On the Wreaths Across America website, he makes this comment: “When people hear about what we’re doing, they want to know if I’m a veteran. I’m not. But I make it my business never to forget.”
On Thursday he looked at the crowd of volunteers — five times as many as last year’s — and said, “I didn’t realize there were this many people that felt like I do.”
