JEFFERSON BARRACKS NATIONAL CEMETERY, MISSOURI - For the second year in a row, Group II of the Missouri Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, hosted the Wreaths Across America ceremony at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery on December 15.  Seven special wreaths were placed to honor those who gave their lives in service for our country, as well as those who have served and are serving in our nation's armed forces.  Specially made wreaths for Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines, and POW/MIA were presented.

This year marked the 16th anniversary of Maine wreaths being donated to decorate the graves at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, and the second year of the national Wreaths Across America campaign that brought the same remembrance wreaths to over 230 state and national veterans' cemeteries and monuments this year in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

The campaign sprung from a patriotic tradition at Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine, which began donating wreaths for veterans' graves at Arlington National Cemetery sixteen years ago.

The observance began in 1992, when Worcester Wreath Co. faced a surplus of 4,000 wreaths nearing the end of the season. Remembering a boyhood trip to the nation's capital, and the striking image of Arlington with its neat, white rows marking the graves of those who made the ultimate sacrifice, Morrill Worcester, president of Worcester Wreath Co., struck upon an idea.

Each year since then, 5,000 wreaths have been made, decorated and loaded aboard a tractor-trailer for the long ride to Arlington.  Sixteen years and more than 60,000 wreaths later, Worcester was struck by the interest and enthusiasm for the annual event. Humbled by the outpouring of support from veterans and their families, the very people he sought to commemorate, Worcester recognized an opportunity to reach out to more people and say thank you. Wreaths Across America was conceived in September 2006 with a mission to remember the fallen, honor those who serve and teach future generations that our freedoms come from great sacrifice.

As for the significance of December 15, Worcester explains, "By mid-December we are nearly at the end of our season. Everyone is rushed with planning for the holidays. We can't imagine a better time to stop and take a moment to say thank you - to remember that what we have today is only here because of those who gave their lives, and the families who will be without loved ones these holidays."

Civil Air Patrol units and wings across the country were joined in this year's observance by many veterans' groups including: National Committee of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, VFW Ladies Auxiliary, American Legion, Daughters of the American Revolution, Boy Scouts, U.S. Naval Sea Cadets, U.S. Military Veterans MC, Vietnam Veterans of America, Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Disabled American Veterans, Rolling Thunder, Blur Star Mothers, Maine State Society of Washington, D.C (which annually assists with the laying of wreaths at Arlington), Patriot Guard Riders (a national organization consisting of nearly 80,000 motorcyclists whose primary mission is to attend the funerals of fallen heroes nationwide), and other civic-minded groups.

"Despite snow and freezing rain, more than forty people braved the weather to attend the ceremony at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, our nation's second largest veteran's cemetery," said Major David Miller, CAP, Missouri Wing Group II commander and coordinator of the event. 

"Knowing the weather wasn't going to cooperate, the ceremony was held indoors at the Chapel on site.  It was a very emotional and humbling event.  I was honored to be a participant."

At the end of the ceremony, the Army wreath was presented to the family of Corporal. Russell Makowski, formerly of the 4th Infantry Division, who was killed in Iraq on September 14, 2006, and is buried at Jefferson Barracks.

The Air Force wreath was presented to the family of Technical Sergeant Wayne Laubert, who was killed in action on December 15, 1944, as a member of a B-17 aircrew.  Laubert's family chose to lay the wreath on the gravesite of Captain Richard Pugh who was killed in action on November 30, 1944, as a member of the Army Air Corps and is buried at Jefferson Barracks.

The POW/MIA wreath was presented to Mike Gibbs, the State Captain of the Missouri Chapter of the Patriot Guard Riders, who laid it at the gravesite at Jefferson Barracks of former Korean War servicemen who had been missing in action but had only recently been identified through DNA testing.

Finally, the remaining wreaths - Navy, Marine, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine - were laid at their respective memorial sites at Jefferson Barracks.

The Missouri Wing of the Civil Air Patrol is composed of almost 1,000 members organized in forty-three Squadrons located throughout the state.  

The Civil Air Patrol was founded on December 1, 1941, less than a week before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the U.S. into World War II. CAP, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 55,000 members nationwide. CAP performs 95 percent of inland search and rescue missions, as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 58 lives in 2006. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counterdrug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. Members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the more than 22,000 young people currently participating in the CAP Cadet program.

Civil Air Patrol has been performing missions for America for over 66 years.

To learn more about the Civil Air Patrol, please visit www.cap.gov (CAP National Headquarters' website), or www.mowg.cap.gov (Missouri Wing website).

To learn more information about Wreaths Across America, visit their site at www.wreathsacrossamerica.org.

###

Inquiries:

Maj. David A. Miller, CAP

Assistant Public Affairs Officer

Group II Commander

Missouri Wing, Civil Air Patrol

U.S. Air Force Auxiliary

grp2cc@mowg.cap.gov