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ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, Va. - Survivors regularly pay
respects to fallen family members inside the stone walls of
Arlington National Cemetery from January through November, but the
numbers of military family members multiply on the advent of the
holidays. Trips are made from near and far. Warm tears flow on cold
December days, voices choke with emotion and knees quiver on a walk
over the frozen sod to a child's or spouse's final resting place.
The second Saturday in December has evolved into an annual trek
to Arlington for many brothers, sisters, girlfriends, wives and
mothers. Wreaths Across America (WAA) brings them all together on
the ANC's hallowed acreage.
For the 22nd year, graves at
America's most recognizable military cemetery were adorned with
143,000 remembrance wreaths by nearly 30,000 volunteers who honored
loved ones and heroes during the 2013 WAA mass wreath laying Dec.
14, 2013.
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United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps'
Stephen Christopher Clark lays a wreath at the grave of his
grandfather, Navy Cmdr. Stephen P. Ragan, in Arlington National
Cemetery's Section 60 at the beginning of Wreaths Across America's
laying of 143,000 remembrance wreaths on December 14, 2013. (Joint
Base Myer-Henderson Hall Pentagram photo by Jim Dresbach)
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While family members of lost service members also
volunteer, many annually give of their time to remember
Marines, soldiers, airmen, sailors and Coast Guardsmen
buried at Arlington.
Among the VIPs at the Arlington
event was Barb Benard, national president of American Gold
Star Mothers. Her Dec. 14 destination was Section 60 on
behalf of two mothers who lost sons in battle.
"I
have two mothers who called the national headquarters and
wanted information [on Wreaths Across America] and Gold Star
Mothers," Benard explained. "I said I was going to
Arlington, so I got their names and their [sons'] grave
marker numbers, and I told them I would put a wreath on
their sons' graves.
"I don't know them at all — all I
know one mother is from New York and the other is from
Colorado," Benard continued. "Remember, we're not just
placing a wreath — we're stopping to read that name, and we
are realizing that this is an individual who had a family at
one point or the other and actually gave the ultimate
sacrifice."
By the afternoon, courtesy of Benard,
Navy Seal and Purple Heart recipient David M. Tapper and
Persian Gulf veteran Navy Lt. Patrick Kelly Connor �— both
eternally resting in Section 60 — had remembrance wreaths on
their respective headstones.
Catie Serex also visited
Section 60 the morning of Dec. 14 and openly reminisced
about her father, Navy Lt. Ricky Alan Serex and his
relationship with the cemetery and Joint Base Myer-
Henderson Hall. Her reflections were both sweet and somber
as her voice cut the freezing air following her personal WAA
wreath-laying.
"My mom grew up in Falls Church, and
they both picked out Fort Myer's Old Post Chapel when they
were getting married," Serex said. "They had the whole
wedding on the base — the wedding reception was at the O
[Officers] Club. At that time, my dad told my mom if
anything ever happened to him, he wanted to come back here,
so when he was killed [in an aircraft accident], she said
Arlington is the only place he can go. We had the funeral
service at Old Post Chapel, and he's been buried here for
over 20 years."
After the 2006 passing of her
husband, Army Brig. Gen. Gerald C. Brown, Falls Church's
Jean Brown kept her spouse's passion and devotion toward
Wreaths Across America alive.
"I took up his mantle
after he passed away," Brown said from her husband's Section
60 gravesite. "My husband and my father — as well as my
sister — were very active in the very early days of Wreaths
Across America. In those days, they had a single [convoy]
truck and coffee and doughnuts. I've been out here every
year since he passed away. I spend a couple hours here with
my husband and lay a couple other wreaths. This is
important; it is a great way to recognize that people have
laid down their lives for us."
By Jim Dresbach
Pentagram (Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall)
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2014
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