Peninsula area servicemembers participate in annual Wreaths Across America event

Photo By Max Lonzanida | Yorktown, Va. (December 16, 2023) YNC Angela Talarico, assigned to Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, lays a wreath in memory of those who served and continue to serve in the U.S. Navy as part of a Wreaths Across America event onboard Yorktown National Cemetery. The event brought in over 250 visitors, along with servicemembers from Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown and Naval Weapons Station Yorktown-Cheatham Annex. Over 1,200 wreaths were placed on headstones during this annual event. Wreaths Across America honors military members and their families, and remembers those who served. Volunteers placed wreaths on fallen service members’ gravestones, and displayed ceremonial wreaths for each branch of service. Through Wreaths Across America, more than 2.4 million veteran graves received wreaths at 3,136 locations across the nation. The mission of Wreaths Across America is to remember our fallen U.S. troops, honor those who serve and teach new generations about the value of freedom through the service and sacrifice of veterans. (U.S. Navy Photo by Max Lonzanida/Released).  

YORKTOWN , VA, UNITED STATES

12.16.2023

Story by Max Lonzanida  

Naval Weapons Station Yorktown

Yorktown, Va. (December 16, 2023) Servicemembers from Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, Coast Guard Training Center-Yorktown, and Joint Base Langley-Eustis joined hundreds of civilian volunteers at Yorktown National Cemetery on Saturday, December 16th to lay wreaths as part of a Wreaths Across America event. The annual event coincided with similar events at over 4,000 participating cemeteries nationwide as part of Wreaths Across America Day, which ensures that no Veteran, regardless of where or when they served is never forgotten.

Captain Scott Rae, Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Training Center-Yorktown provided some remarks during the solemn event. “Lying here before us and in cemeteries throughout this nation are men and women who gave their lives so that we can live in freedom and without fear,” said Captain Rae, before a crowd of uniformed service members and members of the public who packed closely to hear his remarks. “There are many men and women serving today in all branches of the military, here at home and in places far away, that most of us have never heard of. These men and women are part of the best-trained, best-equipped force in the world. We honor them and their families for the sacrifices they make each day to keep our country safe from terrorism, hatred, and injustice,” he concluded.

Colonial National Battlefield Park’s Superintendent, Jerri Marr echoed those remarks during her closing. “Remember, we are not here today to decorate graves. Each wreath is a gift of appreciation from a grateful America,” said Superintendent Marr. “These live balsam fir wreaths symbolize our honor to those who have served and are serving in the armed forces of our great nation and to their families who endure sacrifices every day on our behalf.”

The brief ceremony concluded with the symbolic laying of wreaths by uniformed servicemembers from all three peninsula area military installations. Among the service members laying symbolic wreaths representing their branch of service was Lance Corporal Lal Mawi, who is assigned to the Marine Corps Security Force Regiment. He placed a wreath in memory of those who have served and continue to serve in the United States Marine Corps. Chief Yeoman Angela Talarico followed, and placed a wreath in memory of those who have served and continue to serve in the United States Navy. Both servicemembers are assigned to Naval Weapons Station Yorktown. U.S. Army Veteran David Ahrens, a member of the Sons of the American Legion Squadron 75, fought back tears as he laid a wreath in honor of the 93,129 servicemembers from all branches whose last known status was as a Prisoner of War or Missing in Action. His wreath honored those brave servicemembers who have never returned home, and whose sacrifices will never be forgotten.

Thereafter, volunteers converged on boxes containing fresh balsam fir wreaths and distributed them to be laid at over 1,500 headstones within the cemetery. Of the 2,183 burials at Yorktown National Cemetery, 747 are known and the remaining 1,436 are unknown. Many headstones mark the final resting place of multiple servicemembers, and the vast majority of those interred there are Soldiers who perished during the Civil War.

Standing out among the burials is plot number 1420, where U.S. Navy Landsman Wilson Bell is buried. Bell, who was assigned to USS Minnesota, died in 1907. The cemetery was officially designated as a national cemetery in 1866, when over 50 deceased Union Soldiers were re-interred from burial sites within a 50 mile radius. The cemetery lies adjacent to the location where the British surrendered to then General George Washington in 1781, ending the Revolutionary War and paved the way for the nation’s independence from the British. That victory is celebrated annually in Yorktown on October 19th as Yorktown Day.

By 1400, each headstone was adorned with a freshly laid wreath. This small gesture, carried out by scores of volunteers ensured that those interred there are remembered during this annual event that brought together servicemembers from each peninsula area military installation and participants from across the region.

• Date Taken: 12.16.2023
• Date Posted: 12.17.2023 14:27
• Story ID: 460184
• Location: YORKTOWN , VA, US