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- Wreaths Across America will honor 2,850 veterans at Salt Lake City Veterans Cemetery on Saturday.
- The ceremony will feature eight ceremonial wreaths for armed forces branches and for those imprisoned or missing in action.
- Coordinator Robin Gochnour expressed gratitude for community support in remembering veterans' sacrifices.
SALT LAKE CITY — Wreaths Across America will be holding a wreath-laying ceremony at the Salt Lake City Veterans Cemetery on Saturday to honor the graves of nearly 3,000 veterans.
The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, featuring eight ceremonial wreaths, four to represent each branch of the armed forces and four to represent the POW/MIA soldiers in each branch. Each will be decorated with an American flag, a red bow and a service flag honoring each branch of the military.
This year, the sixth time the Salt Lake cemetery participates in Wreaths Across America, the cemetery gathered enough donations to place wreaths at the graves of 2,850 veterans, 650 more than its original goal.
Participants in the wreath-laying ceremony are encouraged to enter the veterans' section of the cemetery by entering off of 11th Avenue.
"These wreaths send a reminder to all that they are not forgotten, and that as a community (we) will always remember them, honor them and teach our youth about their service and the sacrifice they each made to ensure our freedoms," said Robin Gochnour, coordinator of the Wreaths Across America for the Salt Lake City cemetery. "We are so grateful to the good people of this wonderful community for participating in our mission to 'remember, honor and teach.'"
Wreaths Across America originally started in 1992 in Worchester, Maine, by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester, a tree farmer. Since then, the national organization has held wreath-laying ceremonies at nearly 5,000 locations in the U.S., at sea and abroad, including the Arlington National Cemetery.
In 2008, Congress began proclaiming a Saturday in December as National Wreaths Across America Day, which has continued to today.
Last year, there were more than 3 million wreaths placed at cemeteries across the country and abroad.
Related:
Veterans honored during Wreaths Across America event in Bluffdale
For Stephanie Higham and her family, visiting the Utah Veteran's Cemetery and Park in Bluffdale wasn't about seeing someone they knew, it was about honoring those they had never met.Wreaths Across America encouraged both companies and individuals to donate funds needed to purchase the wreaths, either in remembrance of a loved one or in honor of a veteran.
According to a press release, major corporate sponsors include: L3 Harris, Altaview Concrete, Stoneybrook Homes, Utah Elks Foundation, Veterans of Foreign Wards Post 409, Extra Space Storage, the Paralegal Division of the Utah State Bar, Fidelity FMAC and several anonymous corporate sponsors and hundreds of private individuals.
