The gift of remembrance.

As a mother of six and grandmother of nine, like many of you I start thinking about holiday shopping at this time of year. Thankfully (I guess) technology has made it possible for the older kids to send Nanny a link to make the process easier. Times have definitely changed as the requests involve “in demand” high tech items that even ordering in early Fall doesn’t insure them arriving in time for the holidays.

The current “supply chain” crisis has me thinking about my own Christmases past and simpler times…

Things have certainly changed. One of my best memories was not from the gift I got, but the story I heard about it years later. My sister and I found the most wonderful teddy bears under the tree that year. They were bigger and a little shaggier than the ones we had seen before, but I LOVED Bessy, as she was eventually named. I slept with her every night until her face was lopsided from being my pillow. Then one day my Aunt Giggy told me how that year Mom and Dad were struggling and the money for gifts just wasn’t there. On their weekly trip to the town dump, my mom spied a box that had some discarded womens’ coats in it. Though the outside of the coats were moth eaten, the fur linings were intact. My mother made those wonderful teddy bears from those liners and finished up with the buttons for eyes. Hearing this example of love and ingenuity was the best gift of all.

Maybe this year with all the uncertainty around delivery dates, it is a good time to give the gift of remembrance that will deliver memories for years to come to those on our shopping lists. A wreath placed in honor of a family, or even a child, is an opportunity not only to remember someone who served but to teach history in a way that becomes very personal.

I learned from my mother’s present years ago that the lesson and story behind the gift can be more meaningful than the gift itself. In the same way, laying a veteran’s wreath not only is a gift of remembrance but an opportunity to teach and share stories of service and sacrifice.

Taking young people to the gravesite of a veteran and saying their name is something that will stay with them forever.  I know my husband Morrill – WAA’s founder – first visited Arlington National Cemetery at the age of 12, and he never forgot.

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin

With gratitude,
Karen Worcester
REMEMBER. HONOR. TEACH.

What Is A Veteran’s Wreath?

A symbol of Honor, Respect and Victory. A personal gift to an American hero.

We Said We’d Never Forget: Will We?

For the first time in 20 years, we celebrate Veterans Day in relative peace.

Following is an op-ed by Joe Reagan, WAA’s Director of Military & Veteran Outreach, and Army Veteran, that addresses this and the work still left to do to ensure all Veterans know our true gratitude. 

On November 11, 1918, Ralph Lindsey wrote from his hospital bed in France “Armistice signed at 11 o’clock. Grand celebration all over France. War is at last over and I am still alive!” Later in life if you asked him about the scars on his chest he would simply respond with a shrug and say, “I zigged when I should have zagged.” Ralph was my Great Grandfather, and now, nearly 103 years after he wrote those words, our nation once again finds ourselves celebrating the contributions of our Veterans during a period where their sacrifices may be less visible than they have during the past 20 years of war.

Tune In to Wreaths Across America Radio – A Voice for America’s Veterans! 

Tune in on Veterans Day—Thursday, Nov. 11—starting at 7 am, and every hour throughout the day we will feature veteran stories and spotlight Veterans who support the Mission.

Featured Merchandise

By sponsoring a Patriot Pair, a donated veteran’s wreath will be placed at one of our more than 2,700 participating cemeteries across the nation. A second purchased wreath with a branch flag will be sent to the address of your choice!