On the second Saturday before Christmas across the country, veterans organizations, families, and concerned individuals come together to honor America’s deceased veterans by placing a remembrance wreath on veterans’ graves.
Here in Osceola County, Wreaths Across America events were held Saturday at Kissimmee’s Rose Hill and St. Cloud’s Mount Peace cemeteries. At Rose Hill, volunteers, including the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps’ Lone Sailor Division from Windemere, placed over eight hundred wreaths on all known veterans’ graves in the city-owned cemetery.
This is the third year for the event, organized by Kissimmee’s American Legion Post 10, and held at 10 a.m. so as not to conflict with the Mt. Peace ceremony, which traditionally starts at noon and has been held in the St. Cloud cemetery since 2017.
The Osceola County Veterans Council Honor Guard fired a 21-gun salute and played “Taps” for the solemn occasion. At noon, the second ceremony commenced at Mt. Peace Cemetery. Pulling double duty, as usual, the Osceola County Veterans Council Honor Guard opened the event by posting the colors. Wreaths were then laid representing veterans from all six branches of the U.S. military and the Merchant Marine. A special wreath was also placed in honor of the 82,000 U.S. military members still unaccounted for from conflicts dating back to World War II.
The guest speaker was St. Cloud Police Chief Douglas Goerke— the son of a veteran.
“It is only the service and sacrifice, freely given by veterans and first responders, who give us the freedoms we enjoy today,” said Goerke.
Approximately 1,400 wreaths were placed on veterans’ graves across the historic cemetery, with the help of volunteers from over 24 different organizations and sponsors, including many youth scouting groups.
For more information about Wreath Across America, see https://bit.ly/3TmzJOO.
