Wreaths Across America 2009

This past weekend I went to Washington DC / Arlington National Cemetery to participate in Wreaths Across America. This is my third year doing so. Wreaths Across America is an organization that places wreaths on veterans graves around the Christmas season. This happens across the country and around the world. 15,000 wreaths were placed at Arlington and estimates of 300,000 wreaths total. It is an honor and a privilege to participate. I will get back to that a little later.

I left Friday morning and got to my hotel. After I checked in I bundled up and went to the metro. After a short ride I arrived a short walk from the Smithsonian Museums. I decided to go into the Natural history museum this year. Although I think their math is quite a bit off, it was a nice museum. Apparently the earth is aging faster than I am. When I was in high school they said it was millions of years old, now it is billions. Maybe I have been out of high school too long. Anyway I got done there and took a stroll to the Air & Space museum and caught up with an old friend, LGM-30G. Though I call him Minuteman III. It is still odd to see my job in a museum. After some quality time with my fungicide treated cork buddy I headed back to the motel.

The next day I got up and enjoyed a complimentary breakfast of scrambled eggs, potatoes, sausage gravy and OJ (orange juice not Simpson). I headed over to Arlington and there was a big crowd. We all gathered and listened to several speakers. Even the president did a fly over. Two speakers really stood out to me. The first was a Chaplain. Before he said a prayer he said "Join me in the privilege of prayer". How often do we take prayer for granted, but is a privilege. And those who now rest at Arlington are a big part of the reason we can pray. The second was the leader of the American Gold Star Mothers. If you don't know back in WWI people would hang a flag with a blue star on t to indicate a family member fighting in the war. If that service member was killed then the star was changed to gold. She spoke and said that part of grief is fear. Fear that her son will be forgotten. She said no amount of chiseled stone or dedicated benches could allay that fear. Then she got a little emotional and said that seeing all of the volunteers, probably about 8,000 this year, there to participate; she said that had put the fear to rest. Wow even I got a little choked up. Well once the speeches were done we set about our task. About 90 min later it was complete and Arlington looked awesome. They also had a separate ceremony and some boxes of wreaths at section 60. Section 60 is where the newest members of Arlington's family are laid to rest. Their families were given the chance to place wreaths in that section. I finished up and headed home. After feeling humble, somber, respectful, patriotic, sad, grateful, proud and privileged I drove off feeling honored and glad to be a small part in the day. I don't want to go any time soon but when my time comes, oh that I could be remembered in Arlington, and one day have someone lay a wreath for me.