MDSSAR Participates in Wreaths Across America for the Second Year
December 12th 2009 was a day for remembrance. Wreaths Around America program honors our fallen service men and women. A wreath is place for each service branch, Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Cost Guard, Merchant Marines and one for those Missing In Action. The MDSSAR Color Guard and MDSSAR members participated at three locations this year, Annapolis National Cemetery, Cheltenham Veterans Cemetery and two wreath laying ceremonies in Bel Air Maryland.
Members of the John Paul Jones chapter represented the MDSSAR at the Annapolis National Cemetery ceremony. Hundreds of local citizens, veterans, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Civil Air Patrol units, and military groups were in attendance. There was over 800 wreaths placed at row after row of tombstones for the veterans interred at this cemetery beginning with the Civil War and up to today.
George Satterthwaite of the John Hanson Chapter was in charge of the Cheltenham Veterans Cemetery ceremony. The Thomas Stone Color Guard along with draftee Neal Johnson participated in the ceremony. The ceremony went very well and the weather was not as bad as anticipated.
The Aquila Hall Chapter members of the MDSSAR Color Guard assisted the Bel Air American Legion Post 39 in the ceremonies in Bel Air. After the seven wreaths were placed at the Veterans Memorial next to the town hall, our color guard performed the musket salute. The color guard also performed a musket salute after a single Army wreath was place at the statue in tribute of all flyers and in memory of Captain H. Merle Bailey, bomber pilot, in Bel Air Memorial Gardens.
The Wreaths Across America Program is a National Program which the NSSAR and the Maryland SAR supports. To recap just some of the highlights at the National level from this amazing last couple of weeks where wreath-laying events were hosted at 405 participating locations:
- 405 participating locations (including the 24 national cemeteries on foreign soil)
- 161,000 total wreaths placed to honor our servicemen and women
- Over 100,000 (current best estimate) volunteers participated in the wreath-laying events
- Over 7,500 (estimated) in attendance at Arlington National Cemetery
- Approximately 15,000 in attendance at Houston National Cemetery - the single largest wreath-laying event nationwide.
For more information please see the Wreaths Across america Site.
