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!

Dear Michael Barbour,

What is Your Why?

Here at Wreaths Across America headquarters the cool Maine air signals the end of summer as well as the end of a very busy September.

It has been an emotional and educational few weeks as we have spent time with and learned the stories of many who have lived lives of service to our Country. From our September 11 flag waving memorial, a 12-hour iHeart radiothon, the Women in Military Roundtable Discussion on Wreaths Radio, an educational summit with Law Enforcement Officers, to the dedication of the Military Women’s Memorial Grove on the tiplands this past Monday, I have been inspired by the examples set by so many women and men.

It has become a custom at our events to ask those who participate “what is your why?”

Without exception, each time we carry out this exercise and one-by-one, each participant gives their testimony, there are tears, compassion and a strengthened bond within our extended WAA family.

My own why grows bigger with each passing month, and new person I meet. It grew this month as I had the honor to sit next to one of my own heroes, Medal of Honor Recipient Roger Donlon and his amazing wife, Norma, at a Medal of Honor Society event in Boston on 9/11. Together,  we watched Medal of Honor Recipient Leroy Petry – whose service in Afghanistan earned him his Medal – struggle to speak of the 13 men and women who our Country just lost.

It grew during our Law Enforcement Officer Summit as a military veteran and Officer embraced me and cried as he continues to work through his PTSD. Then again at the Grove dedication, as I listened to a 98 year-old WWII Navy Nurse recall her service with pride and end by stating she’d be proud to go again if she could. All these amazing people, continue to fuel my why.

I recently read a quote, “If American children are not taught the principles of freedom, America will not be free for long.” For me, truer words have never been spoken, and this fear is also part of my why.

Finally, to all of the devoted Wreaths Across America volunteers and supporters, it is your passion and commitment that allows us collectively, to carry out this important mission…YOU are my why… and I thank you.

With gratitude,

Karen Worcester

REMEMBER. HONOR. TEACH.

Medal of Honor Recipient Roger Donlon’s Shares His Why

Recently, Wreaths Across America had the honor and privilege to sit down with Medal of Honor Recipient Roger Donlon and his wife Norma, a Gold Star Wife, at their home in Kansas, and ask – what is your why?

The following video shares their answer and is a message that every American should take the less-than three minutes to watch, listen, learn, and share.

“Do your part, young men and women, stand up to the challenge, be brave.” 

– Col. Roger Donlon, U.S. Army (Ret.), first Medal of Honor Recipient from the Vietnam War

Dedication of the Military Women’s Memorial Grove

Monday, Sept. 27, 2021  Jonesboro, Maine, USA

“Let the generations know that women in uniform also guaranteed their freedom. That our resolve was just as great as the brave men who stood among us. And with victory, our hearts were just as full and beat just as fast – that the tears fell just as hard for those we left behind.”

– 1LT Anne Sosh Brehm, US Army Nurse Corps, World War II China Burma India Theatre

On Monday, Wreaths Across America, as part of its Veterans’ Remembrance Tree Program, in partnership with the Military Women’s Memorial Foundation, dedicated the Military Women’s Grove on the balsam tip lands in Maine. The balsam fir trees in this Grove will now hold the replica dog tags of thousands of America’s military women, in honor and memory of all women who have served our nation – past and present.

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

Tune in on Wednesday, Oct. 6, at 10 am to hear a special ‘Mission Matters’ featuring the ceremony from the dedication of the Military Women’s Grove, followed by a replay of the last RoundTable on Veterans’ Healing focused on Women in the Military.

The two episodes will be replayed that evening at 6 and 7 pm ET.

Featured Merchandise

VIBE Speaker Tumbler – take the mission with you wherever you go, while tuning in to Wreaths Across America Radio!

What Are You Interested In?

Wreaths Across America Day 2021 is less than 100 days away! Looking for ways to support the mission this year? Select an option below.