DAR to honor county veterans

Veterans’ graves at two area cemeteries will be decorated with wreaths this December 17, provided through the efforts of the Jonathan Hardin Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, who is sponsoring the effort and seeks donations from those interested.

The effort is in concert with Wreaths Across America, which since 1992 has coordinated efforts to honor the nation’s veterans by placing a wreath, tied with a red bow, at the grave of U. S. veterans.

Cost of the wreaths is $ 15 each. The wreaths and accompanying ceremony started out as an annual trip to Arlington Cemetery near Washington, D. C.. In the following years, the mission grew exponentially and expanded across the country in support of any other group who wanted to do the same.

By 2014, Wreaths Across America and its national network of volunteers laid over 700,000 memorial wreaths at 1,000 locations in the United States and beyond, including ceremonies at the Pearl Harbor Memorial, as well as Bunker Hill, Valley Forge and the sites if the September 11 tragedies. This was accomplished with help from 2,047 sponsorship groups, corporate contributions, and donations of trucking, shipping, and thousands of helping hands. The organization’s goal of covering Arlington National Cemetery was met in 2014 with the placement of 226,525 wreaths.

Beth Harrison, Secretary of the Jonathan Hardin DAR Chapter, said the group first heard about Wreaths Across America at the DAR’s Texas conference in March, and after much research and consideration, the chapter decided in April to join in the effort.

The first task was to identify which cemeteries to start with, and then locate the veterans who are buried there - an effort that took a lot of studying and even more research.

“There are approximately 270 cemeteries in Freestone and Limestone Counties. We wanted to start small, with one cemetery in each county,” Mrs. Harrison said. “We wanted to be fair.”

First the chapter narrowed it down to 90 possible cemeteries, and after much more research, decided on Driver Cemetery in Freestone County and LaSalle Cemetery in Limestone County.

Helping with the research on Driver Cemetery was Nancy Rula, and Julia Morton and Kay Alston helped with LaSalle Cemetery.

When the group asked permission to lay the wreaths, the committees at both cemeteries were “gracious and excited there was no question that they wanted to participate,” she said.

Driver Cemetery is located on FCR 620, off of Hwy. 84 between Fairfield and Teague; and LaSalle Cemetery is located on FM 1953, seven miles east of Groesbeck.

Efforts are still underway to locate every veteran in both cemeteries, and representatives from both cemeteries are helping locate and mark each grave.

The Dec. 17 formal ceremony at LaSalle, for approximately 42 veterans, will be held at 10 a.m., and at Driver, for roughly 80 veterans, at 2 p.m. Volunteers are welcome to participate in the ceremony by giving reverence and placing wreaths on headstones.

“Our plan is to give reverence and recognize each individual at the ceremony,” Mrs. Harrison said. “We will read each name. I feel confident we will reach our goal to lay a wreath on every veteran’s grave.”

She added that they hope to spark interest in Wreaths Across America with other groups or cemeteries.

“The goal of Wreaths Across America is to put a wreath on every veteran’s grave across the country,” she said.

Those wishing to help sponsor the effort by purchasing a $15 wreath can do so by visiting www. wreathsacrossamerica/ tx1128P. The website will have a list of participating cemeteries by state. The deadline is Nov. 28.

Direct links to the cemetery webpages are: For Driver Cemetery www.wreathsacrossamerica/ txdctt For LaSalle Cemetery www.wreathsacrossamerica/ txlsgt “We want them, and their families, to know we will not forget them,” Mrs. Harrison said. “If it wasn’t for them, we might not be here today.”