Tens of thousands of people honored members of the armed forces that have been laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery with Wreaths Across America on Saturday.
This annual event would not have been started without a surplus of wreaths back in 1992.
“We bought too many wreaths and it was at the end of the season and there was no market for them,” said Wreaths Across America founder Morrill Worcester.
Worcester said he and his family tried to figure out “where they would do the most good, and we decided on Arlington National Cemetery.”
Making this an annual event was not the original plan. Worcester, who has been in the wreath business for 53 years, said the project was so well-received that he and his family didn’t want to stop.
Karen Worcester, co-founder of Wreaths Across America and Morrill’s wife, said this means so much to him that even a stroke two years ago wouldn’t stop her husband from going to Arlington National Cemetery for the laying of the wreaths.
“The day before we were supposed to leave to come down, he had a massive stroke, it was a dire situation,” she said. “As soon as he started to feel better, he knew he wanted to get here.”
With permission from his hospital in Maine, Morill, along with his daughter who is a doctor, drove down to Arlington National Cemetery to see the event he created.
“He wasn’t going to miss it,” Karen added.
Thirty-one years ago, 5,000 wreaths were used the first year. This year, more than 3 million wreaths will be laid on markers in more than 4,000 locations all around the world.
