Veterans and military members were honored for their dedication to the country during a brief ceremony that was held in conjunction with a national event. Missouri’s National Veteran Memorial held its annual Wreaths Across America event on Saturday.
Wreaths Across America is a national program that involves community members purchasing wreaths and donating them to decorate graves for veterans and serve as memorials for them during the holidays. The program started as a project in Maine but quickly gained popularity and became a nationwide event.
Each December on National Wreaths Across America Day, the mission to Remember, Honor and Teach is carried out by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as at more than 4,000 additional locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea and abroad.
For MNVM Executive Director Rae Lynn Munoz, it is a way to honor veterans during the Christmas season.
“We gather as one nation to remember and teach,” Munoz said. We are proud to live in a free society made up of many people from many walks of life. The freedoms we enjoy today, did not come without a price. Men and women gave their lives so that we can live without free. We can raise our children the way we see fit. We have the ability to succeed in whatever way we choose.”