Making a Difference at Christmas

The skies were leaden grey, a cold wind swept across the hills and snow flurries fell on a moving scene in Arlington, Virginia on Saturday. Precisely at noon, more than 2,000 volunteers began laying 10,000 Christmas wreaths at the gravesites of servicemen from all branches of the military in Section 33 — an older, less visited section — of Arlington National Cemetery. Four wreaths were also laid at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. None of this would have happened were it not for Morrill Worcester, 57, of Harrington, Maine. Who?

What began in 1992 as the brainchild of Worcester, a Maine wreathmaker who had a surplus of 4,000 Christmas wreaths that year and wanted to put them to good use, has turned into a nationwide nonprofit project, Wreaths Across America, to lay holiday wreaths at the graves of the fallen throughout the country. Worcester isn’t a veteran but, when he was 12 and a Bangor Daily News paperboy, he won a trip to Washington, DC and the memories of Arlington National Cemetery remained with him: thousands of tiny white crosses, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the 24-hour color guard. As a college sophomore from one of the poorest areas of Maine, Worcester began selling wreaths to make ends meet; he’s now president of the Worcester Wreath Co., which makes the more than half a million Christmas wreaths, tabletop trees and centerpieces sold every year by L.L. Bean.

Mr. Worcester continued the wreath project year after year, virtually unnoticed and paying the trucking expenses for the 750-mile trip himself. The project is Worcester’s way of expressing gratitude for his success. He told Boston.com: “We’ve been very lucky here — donating 15,000 wreaths is the least we can do…In this country, the harder you work, the better you can do. That’s not true in a lot of other countries, and it didn’t come without sacrifice.” About 2,500 wreaths were laid near Augusta, ME at the Togus National Cemetery this year, while 2,000 more were delivered to 286 other veterans’ cemeteries nationwide. Harrington area schoolchildren also made Christmas cards to accompany about 70 wreaths sent to soldiers in Iraq. For the first time, 2007 wreath laying will expand to 24 veterans’ cemeteries on foreign soil and to U.S. ships.

Two years ago, a Pentagon photographer took pictures of the wreath-bedecked headstones and published them on the Internet. The project took off, and, as word spread, the Civil Air Patrol began coordinating wreath laying in all 50 states. The National Reconnaissance Office volunteered to help, as did members of the armed forces, civilians and veterans. Trucker Jimmy Prout of Bluebird Ranch Trucking in Jonesboro, ME delivered the evergreen wreaths at no charge to Arlington last year.

A New Jersey-based flag maker, Annin & Co., donated 3,000 small flags last year, with the Stars and Stripes, banners for each branch of the military and including POW/MIAs. UPS agreed to ship the wreaths all over the country at no charge. The Patriot Guard Riders, a veterans’ motorcycle group, escorts the tractor-trailer from Harrington all the way to Arlington. Another 20,000 wreaths at $15.00 each were purchased from the nonprofit Wreaths website; altogether, about 35,000 veterans’ gravesites were decorated for Christmas 2007.

Mrs. Worcester told Boston.com: “Who are we? Nobody…All we wanted was to quietly be grateful, and we don’t know what happened. But somebody said to us, it doesn’t matter why — you’ve got their ear, now talk to them.” Her husband’s goal is to someday receive enough donations to decorate the more than 300,000 headstones at Arlington National. “It may sound ridiculous,” he said. “It may be going out on a limb. But there may come a time when we do every grave.”

The wreath maker has also said: “I want people to remember that kid who went over a hedgerow in France right into machine gun fire…The average guy who got killed in World War II was 21 years old. He never got the opportunity to do what we do…But he was very instrumental in making it all happen.”

Read another Christmas story.

Photo credits: Andrea Bruce / The Washington Post and Master Sgt. Jim Varhegyi / U.S. Air Force

Copyright ©2007 pajamadeen.com

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