More than 150 people of all ages gathered in Longmont’s Mountain View Cemetery Saturday morning to lay wreaths on the graves of veterans.
The Wreaths Across America event began with a ceremony dedicated to fallen heroes, and many veterans were in attendance.
One of those veterans was VFW Commander Garry Wilson, who served in the Vietnam War and spent six years in the U.S. Navy. He laid a symbolic wreath on a stand during the ceremony, and saluted veterans who have been laid to rest.
“It’s an honor to honor my brothers who have fallen in battle,” Wilson said.
The commander has been a Longmont resident for more than two decades, but this was his first year attending the local Wreaths Across America event, which held its fourth annual gathering Saturday. The support for local veterans has grown, he said.
“It’s getting a lot better, especially for Vietnam veterans — we’re being acknowledged,” he explained. “When we came home, we were not acknowledged, we were cursed at. We had garbage and trash thrown at us.”
Wreaths Across America, a nationwide nonprofit organization, raises money for veteran remembrance wreaths that are placed on graves at more than 3,000 locations.
Delaney Dreckman, location coordinator for the organization in Longmont, said $21,000 was raised to purchase more than 1,400 wreaths for the Mountain View Cemetery.
“We have a really solid community here for sure,” Dreckman said. “This is a great event every year for families. It’s a really nice, selfless thing for the community.”
Dreckman’s husband is in the U.S. Marine Corps, and both her grandfathers were marines.
“We’re a big military family, we’re a very patriotic family, and we’re just so thankful that Longmont has embraced this cause as much as we have,” she said.
The wreath-laying event is supported by the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Moose Lodge, boy and girl scouts and combat veterans motorcycle clubs.
The Mead Middle School Choir performed in the ceremony, and the Longmont Republican Women provided hot chocolate and donuts for volunteers.
Seeing so many people of all ages come to honor veterans on a cold Saturday morning was heartwarming, Wilson said.
“This is my first year, but it won’t be my last,” he said.
“We served our country, we honored our country, and if I had to — if I could, I’d do it again,” the 75-year-old veteran said.
