December 17, 2012

PRESS RELEASE – IMMEDIATE

After a year of dedicated work and planning by hundreds of supporters, the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery in Little Falls now has a genuine balsam wreath with a big red bow honoring all of our countries fallen veteran’s and their families interred there. 

Despite freezing rain and poor road conditions, many people were able to attend the Remembrance Ceremony and wreath placement on Saturday, December 15th, to honor our countries fallen veterans and their families.

At 11 am as planned everyone was assembled at the Flag Assembly Area by the Memorial Walkway.  The walkway to and around the flag pole was lined with 350 wreaths that glistened with the freezing rain drops on them.  The ceremony flowed quickly with seven presentations of seven special wreaths representing the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines, and POW/MIA.  

Shortly after the 11 am ceremony concluded, at 11:25 am, the many volunteers that were able to attend went to work placing the several thousand wreaths waiting at each section.  First, five KIA’s interred at the cemetery were honored by separate teams placing a wreath on their graves, and continued with the placement of the many hundreds of grave specific requests that had been received. Then all the remaining wreaths were then placed.  In a remarkable 35 minutes all the veterans’ graves in the cemetery had received a wreath in honor for their service. 

“It is an amazing sight to see every headstone with a wreath this year.  All of our supporters have planned and worked so hard through out the year to make this possible.  Everyone that supported and contributed should be extremely proud to have been part of this wonderful achievement.  I would invite anyone traveling near the cemetery to stop by and witness this remarkable sight”, said John Thomas, President of WreathsForTheFallen.org.

“We shall now start preparations to honor our countries fallen veterans at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery next year”, added Thomas.

For those that would like to make a general donation to this worthy cause, please feel free to contribute to the wreath general fund for the 2013 event. Information is on the www.WreathsForTheFallen.org web site.  

For additional information, contact: John Thomas at 218-829-6622 or go to www.WreathsForTheFallen.org.