First Annual Wreath Laying Ceremony

Posted on December 19, 2017

This year, on December 16, St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Old Town became one of the 1,422 sites across the country where our nation’s interred veterans are remembered and honored on Wreaths Across America Day. Scouts from Cub Scout Pack 522, Cub Scout Pack 882, Troop 50, and Troop 1887 as well as other volunteers laid wreaths on the graves of 183 veterans buried in the cemetery. Sons of the American Revolution member David Thomas (Vice President, George Washington Chapter) honored the five veterans of the American Revolution with a ceremonial wreath laid at the plaque in the cemetery commemorating them and at the grave of Private Lawrence Hurdle. Retired and active duty servicemen laid ceremonial wreaths around a veterans memorial in honor of the men and women who served and are serving in the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marines. Col. Kevin Rue, US Army, retired, and a member of the Friends of Rocky Versace, laid a wreath in honor of the 82,422 members of the United States Armed Forces from World War II until the present whose last known status was Missing in Action. A Joint Forces Color Guard from theMilitary District of Washington presented arms during the wreath laying, and Staff Sergeant Brandon Eubank, U.S. Marine Corps Band, “The President’s Own,” played “Taps” to end the ceremony after a closing prayer by Fr. Edward Hathaway, Pastor of St. Mary Church.

Each December on National Wreaths Across America Day, the mission of Wreaths Across America is to Remember, Honor and Teach. It is carried out by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as over 1,200 additional locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea, and abroad.

To view all pictures from the event, click here.

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