December 14, 2024
Today is Wreaths Across America Day, and volunteers will place more than 2 million veterans’ wreaths on local, national and military cemeteries in addition to historic sites and veterans’ memorials.
Volunteers, one-third of whom are children, are told: “You will join tens of thousands across the nation in placing wreaths on the markers of our fallen heroes. As you place each wreath, you will say their name to ensure that the legacy of duty, service, and sacrifice of each veteran is never forgotten. Our mission is to Remember, Honor and Teach.”
Linda Lyons of Stamford has participated in the ceremony for seven years every December in Darien, which is held at more than 4,000 locations in all 50 states, at sea and abroad. She has great respect for veterans, and a member of her family has served in the Armed Forces during every war of our country since the American Revolution. As her personal ministry, she visits the cemeteries to tidy up the graves, say a prayer for the deceased, and clean more than 100 veterans’ graves, many of which turned black with age, and removed tattered and damaged flags to dispose of properly.
“I feel it’s a way of honoring the veterans,” she says. “People forget why we should honor them. If it wasn’t for them, who knows what would happen to our freedoms. I feel I’m giving back to our country and I’m passionate about it.”
She also prays over them. “God calls me to certain ones,” she says. “So I stop and say ‘I hope you’re resting in peace’ and make the sign the of the cross.”
©Joseph Pisani
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