Wreaths Across America
Wreaths Across America , the escorted convoy of wreaths that truck from Maine to Arlington Cemetary in order to place wreaths at 500 local memorials to fallen soldiers today arrived at the Kemper Memorial in Mamaroneck.
Over 100 people watched as the Mamaroneck Village Honor Guard placed the wreath at the monument on the grounds of Mamaroneck High School.
Among those in attendance were high school students, local politicians, Kemper Park board members, school board members, members of the local VFW, police cars from New York and other states and Westchester County, the Maine Civil Air Patrol, and a convoy of motorcycles and trucks that stretched from the Starbucks parking lot to the Town Center entrance on the Boston Post Road.
video- Catherine Wachs
In eloquent comments, (see video) Karen Worcester of Worcester Wreath Company asked the students in attendance to learn about the lives of every local soldier whose name is on the Kemper Memorial by this time next year.
"It will become part of your history," Worcester said, "Not just etchings on a wall."
This was very moving in person. And brought to mind all the men and women sacrificing their lives right now as we shop for gifts. In WWII, the war brought all Americans together. Now, it tears us apart. Or worse, we are apathetic.
I think it should be law that sons and daughters of Congressional leaders go first into battle.
After seeing a report on Wreaths Across America on “60 Minuets” last year my wife and I attended this year’s visit to Mamaroneck High School. I was disappointed in the small turnout. Most of the crowd was comprised of the 70 members of the caravan, school officials, and elected officials. About 50 students from the High School’s history class also attended. After the ceremony I talked with the family driving one of the trucks, Baylor Trucking from Indiana, carrying some of the 30 thousand wreaths to Arlington Cemetery. I asked them how our crowd compared to the previous stops along the way. They told me that our crowd was the smallest that they had seen since they started.
I agree with Catherine. Only 1% of our population is fighting across the world to provide the security for the citizens of this country. Our son, Lt. Malcolm Ohl, (MHS 2005, Boston College 2009) will be shipping to Afghanistan this March with his artillery unit. Please pray for him.
As this war is not on every American’s radar everyday, a draft would not only add some backbone to the majority of America’s youth, it would rapidly put an end our involvement in the protracted, nation building actions abroad. We are the mightiest nation on earth being held hostage by populations stuck in 3rd century beliefs/social structures with 21st century weapons. I fully support our son and his fellow soldiers. There mission should be clearer.
oops, a typo – bears repeating though:
[b]Their mission should be clearer.[/b]
editor thank you so much Irene! we all wish your son a safe mission!
I fully understand what you giys are saying about the crowd if it was small, but 10:45 AM on a work day. Most people cant take off from work to attend this – people are scared of losing their job as it is right?
What a beautiful ceremony it was, kudos to the Worcester Wreath Company and the Patriot Guard for making Mamaroneck one of your stops. Mike, I wish that your reasoning were true about the turnout but that is the easy way out. The residents in this area are apathetic at best. Look at any Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day or even 9/11 ceremony and you will see a very small turnout at each (and many of the people attend all of the events). It is unfortunately a sign of the times in this area that has been ongoing for years.