Saturday, Dec. 14, volunteers around the country will lay tens of thousands of wreaths on the graves of men and women who served in the military.
More than 1,600 cemeteries are participating in this year’s Wreaths Across America Day, including four on the First Coast.
Wreaths Across America volunteer Katrina Cramer said the wreaths are a way to honor both veterans and their families.
She’s volunteering at Jacksonville Memorial Gardens in Orange Park.
“By doing this, when they come out to visit their loved ones at Christmas, they can see there are people out honoring the sacrifices they’ve given as a service member or as a family. Because, you know, family members do, also, sacrifice a lot having a loved one in the military,” said Cramer.
Cramer’s group raised enough money this year to place wreaths on more than 1,800 headstones of the 5,000 veterans who are buried there.
The ceremony will start around 11:45 Saturday morning and all of the participating cemeteries will observe a moment of silence at noon.
Volunteers will also be placing wreaths at Jacksonville National Cemetery, St. Augustine National Cemetery and Keystone Heights Memorial Gardens.
Contact reporter Cyd Hoskinson at choskinson@wjct.org, 904-358-6351 and on Twitter at @cydwjctnews.
