The Legacy of Living by Example

An item from the Wreaths Across America organization that may be of interest to some members.


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The greatest legacy we can leave our children is not wealth or possessions, but the living example of how to love, uplift, and serve others.

Over the last 20 years with Wreaths Across America, I have had the privilege of meeting some extraordinary people. Most of them would never describe themselves that way. They are veterans, Gold Star families, truck drivers, volunteers, teachers, parents, grandparents, and children. They are people who simply see something that needs to be done and step up to do it. And I have learned a great deal from watching them.

Click here to read my full message, and keep scrolling to learn more about our year-round mission to Remember, Honor, and Teach.

Sincerely,

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Karen Worcester

Wreaths Across America’s Executive Director

2026 Annual Awards: Highlighting Our Volunteers

The Wreaths Across America Awards are given annually to individuals or groups that go above and beyond in furthering the Wreaths Across America mission and making an impact in their community. Thank you to all of our winners for their passion and work in their communities. Get to know the winners of the 2026 Remember, Honor, Teach and Learn Awards below!

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2026 Honor Award Recipient Dion

Remember Award: Sue Faulk

This award is given annually to an individual or group who Remembers the fallen and their sacrifice in a way that goes above and beyond.

Honor Award: Carol Dion

 This national award is given annually to an individual who honors those who serve, and their families, in a way that supports the Wreaths Across America yearlong mission to Remember, Honor and Teach.

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Teach Award:

Betty “Paige” Keranen

This award is given annually to an individual or group who has contributed significantly to teaching the next generation to Remember and Honor those who serve in our nation’s military.

Learn Award: Aiyana Castro

This award is given to a young individual who has learned and understands the WAA mission, incorporates it into their life, and demonstrates that learning through action.

WAA in the News

Wreaths Across America is Seeking Carriers and Drivers to Help Move the Mission This December

OPEN LANES

To date, there are more than 30 new lanes available for carriers and professional drivers, who will join Wreaths Across America’s Honor Fleet and haul sponsored veterans’ wreaths needing delivery for placement on National Wreaths Across America Day. Transportation companies joining the Honor Fleet contribute to a deeply meaningful cause and provide professional drivers with a journey full of healing.

WAA Teach Program & American Battlefield Trust

Educators, you’re invited to join the WAA Teach Program & the American Battlefield Trust for a free Resource Spotlight Webinar! We’ll share some meaningful stories from the history of Veterans Day and highlight a few service members’ stories. Then, we will explore the free lesson plans offered with the TEACH Program and highlight the free Medal of Valor Trail resources. Feel inspired, grateful and patriotic while collecting fresh primary sources, biographies, tech tools and more to bring veterans’ stories to your classroom in new ways.

Mission Matters on Wreaths Across America Radio

Mission Matters 2025

Tune in to Wreaths Across America Radio every Wednesday for Mission Matters with your host, Executive Director Karen Worcester! Recently, Karen interviewed Amanda Brown, location coordinator for Wreaths Across America at Middle Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery.

Listen live each week on Wreaths Across America Radio.

Remember Me Story Gallery

Help us identify service members who deserve to be remembered. These could be family members, local heroes, or names from your local cemetery that few people know.

Please submit names, photos, and stories at the button below. You can also view the gallery of stories. Be sure to use #RememberMe on social media!

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Featured Merchandise

The 2026 theme ornament is here! Cherish the memory of all who have served with this year’s ornament. With “Remember Me” proudly displayed at the top, it will be a beautiful reminder of 250 years of American heroes and your continued support.

Click on the button to purchase the ornament, or view all of our merchandise here.

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Make sure to follow Wreaths Across America official channels on social media for the most up-to-the-minute news on the mission throughout the year:

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Wreaths Across America, PO Box 249, Columbia Falls, ME 04623, United States, 877-385-9504

The accountant who spent 20 years finding Canada’s forgotten Indigenous veterans

An item from the Legion Magazine.


Weekly Feature
Observation Post

Kanyen’kehà:ka (Mohawk) Corporal Huron Brant (left) of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment receives the Military Medal from Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery on Sept. 23, 1943, in Catanzaro, Italy. [DND/LAC/PA-130065]

19,000 and counting: How an amateur historian maintains the memory of Indigenous veterans in Canada

STORY BY RICHARD FOOT

The names spill forth from Yann Castelnot’s seemingly endless list, like a rollcall of courage.

Alongside those listed are their Indigenous nations—Mi’kmaq, Mohawk (Kanyen’kehà:ka) and Ojibwe. Anishinaabe, Cree and Saulteaux (Nahkawininiwak). Coast Salish, Shuswap (Secwepemc), Squamish (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh) and on and on.

Some survived the wars they fought, others died from disease or wounds, while others went missing or were killed in action. But what is most striking about this list is the sheer number of entries—19,152—all Indigenous soldiers who fought for Canada from colonial times to the present day.

READ MORE

Latest Stories

If looks could kill: Arthur Currie, Pete Hegseth and the meaning of military toughness

General Arthur Currie was no matinee idol. Portly and jowly, he had neither the face nor the form of the dashing, broad-shouldered Hollywood stereotype.

No Mercy

The Canadian Corps engaged in its second major action at the bloody Battle of Flers-Courcelette

Rideau Redux

The Rideau Canal was initially built as a defence against American invasion, a recurring theme in Canadian history

Monumental Sites Playing Cards
The Briefing
The Briefing

A promo screen for Dale Morrisey’s documentary film. [Wandering Journalist Productions]

Canadian filmmaker Dale Morrisey highlights women of WW II in doc series

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

“Time and money are the enemy of Canadian history documentaries,” remarked filmmaker Dale Morrisey, the founder of Wandering Journalist Productions. “You’re fighting to find that money, and you’re up against a loudly ticking clock.”

More than 80 years after the end of the Second World War, the urgency he describes has never been more apparent: “People you want to include in your stories are dying before you can get to them.”

Few doubt the increasing difficulty of preserving such voices, but in focusing on the fast-fading number of women who navigated the period—military veteran or otherwise—Morrisey confronted a struggle. Nevertheless, the Ontario-based producer has since overcome that hurdle with the release of his latest documentary, Heroines in the Storm.

READ MORE

More from The Briefing

An armchair tour of the wreck site of HMCS Canada with diver and historian Joseph Frey

Ernest Hemingway had a hand in leading scuba diver Joseph Frey to the wreck of HMCS Canada—though the famed novelist could hardly have known it.

Author Karen Farrington on Allied PoWs escaping through Italy in WW II

When Canadian captives Raymond Sherk and Don McLarty saw an opportunity to escape Camp 78, a prisoner-of-war facility in the central Italian region of Abruzzo,

Author Matthew Walthert on the life of hockey star and Great War soldier Scotty Davidson

For 90 years, the Canadian National Vimy Memorial has stood above the Douai Plain of northern France, its soaring towers a testament to 11,285 unfinished

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The Poppy Store: Your source for everything Poppy

Members may be interested in this notice from the Poppy Store.


News and Events for the Bay Area Canadian Community

A newsletter from a fellow Canadian organization in the Bay Area.


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