Rarely in our history has the importance of teaching our younger generations the values of Americanism and patriotism become more apparent.

If we as adults don’t embrace it and demonstrate it, how can we expect our young people to live it as we, and the generations before us, have lived it? As Ronald Reagan once said, “we don’t pass love of country and Americanism in our bloodstream. It must be taught by us and we are only one generation away from losing it.”

“Honoring our veterans” is a phrase we often hear. I assure you that the honor was ours so it goes much deeper than that for us as veterans.

The creation of the Miss-Lou Veterans Coalition, our Veterans Day parade, the MLVC Honor Guard, and Wreaths Across America is our way of teaching and reminding you the importance of fostering these traits in our communities, which is where it all starts.

Wreaths Across America was started by the Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine, in 1992 when they found themselves with an excess of Christmas wreaths at the end of the holiday season. Arrangements were made for the wreaths to be placed at Arlington National Cemetery. In 2006, in response to thousands of emails, Worcester Wreath expanded nationwide where ceremonies were held simultaneously at 230 locations.

By 2014, with the help of thousands of individuals, corporate sponsors and volunteers, over 700,000 wreaths were donated and placed at over 1,000 locations worldwide.

Almost 10 years ago, at our Natchez National Cemetery, Oscar and Eddie Seyfarth, as coordinators, started with seven Ceremonial wreaths, and last year we placed almost 1,000 wreaths on veterans’ graves.

These wreaths are full-sized, made from real balsam pine trees and are a sight to see at our national cemetery. There are over 8,000 graves at our national cemetery, and it averages about 100 new internments every year, so our work is far from being done.

There is still time, but we have only until Nov. 30 to get all of our orders in for 2015. These beautiful wreaths are still only $15 each! What a wonderful Christmas gift for a deceased veteran, their families and our community!

Please contact Oscar Seyfarth at 601-807-1576 or Rodney Violette at 601-442-3109, if you would like to order a wreath. We also have a grave specific program where you can purchase a wreath for you to place on a particular veteran’s grave. Call us for details.

We have a beautiful ceremony that will be at 11 a.m. on Dec. 12 at the Natchez National Cemetery. Presentation of our nation’s colors, rifle firing team, and Taps will be performed by the Miss-Lou Veterans Coalition Honor Guard and the U.S. Army ROTC from Alcorn State University and the placing of the 7 ceremonial wreaths will be conducted by our area’s veterans. Grave specific wreaths will be called forward, first, and then we all get to participate to place the wreaths, which numbers around 1,000, on the graves of our deceased heroes. It’s a great thing to bring your children to be a part of this and to teach them that freedom is not free.

 

Rodney Violette is the coordinator for Wreaths Across America at the Natchez National Cemetery.