National Wreaths Across America Day was celebrated on Saturday at Camp Nelson National Cemetery, located south of Nicholasville, and eight other Kentucky cemeteries. In this, a year like no other, the local WreathsCampNelson organizing committee, aware of COVID-19 restrictions, made the decision to modify and continue the tradition of National Wreaths Across America Day.
The committee accepted and placed 540 wreaths sponsored for specific graves, emphasized that all veterans would be honored symbolically by placing wreaths on war memorials and the gates of the cemetery, and continued the WAA mission to Remember ~ Honor ~ Teach.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the public was unable to attend this year and the entire operation was carried out with the help of less than 50 volunteers. This was a dramatic contrast to 2019, when over 700 volunteers and attendees assisted with the largest Wreaths Across America ever at Camp Nelson, placing more than 10,000 wreaths.
The process began at Camp Nelson last week as a tractor trailer arrived with cartons of wreaths shipped from Maine. A crew of volunteers unloaded the wreaths in near-darkness with the temperature at about 23 degrees. One of those volunteers laid his own mother to rest at the cemetery the next day, one of four funerals held that day. The wreaths were honored to travel side by side in the delivery truck from Maine with those delivered the day before to Arlington National Cemetery, and the truck went on to eight more cemeteries in Kentucky.
The week was rounded out with a traditional ceremony where an honorary wreath squad placed ceremonial wreaths for each military service plus the U.S. Merchant Marine, POW/MIA, and U.S. war dead buried overseas. All participants wore black masks, gloves, and were required to maintain social distancing, something that would have been impossible if the crowds of former years had attended. All ceremony participants were Kentuckians, including many military veterans.
Wreaths Across America was founded so that the courage and sacrifice of our military veterans would never be forgotten. December 19th was National Wreaths Across America Day all across the country. Camp Nelson was one of 2,557 participating locations honoring nearly 1.8 million veterans across the country this year.
