Once again, North Texas has made sure there will be no shortage of wreaths to lay in front of every headstone at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery over the 2023 holiday season.
This year 54,000 graves needed a wreath. According to Wreaths Across America, more than 60,000 wreaths were donated.
WREATH LAYING CEREMONY SET FOR DECEMBER 16
The next big step is to lay the wreaths at each headstone. The fresh wreaths are all donated and placed at the headstones by volunteers, as well as family.
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This year, the Wreaths Across America ceremony will be held at the cemetery on Dec. 16, 2023, at 11 a.m. You can learn more here.
The Wreaths Across America website encourages participants to arrive early, before 10 a.m., due to parking congestion. You are free to lay wreaths in any section you choose. Children are encouraged to participate, so you can bring the entire family.
A HUGE THANK YOU TO NBC 5 AND TELEMUNDO 39 VIEWERS
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More than 7,000 were donated through the NBC 5 and Telemundo 39 Veteran's Network. Veteran's Network is an employee resource group within NBC Universal -- former employee Cynthia Garcia's son Adam who was mortally wounded in Iraq, is buried at DFW National Cemetery and each year Vet Net members volunteer to lay wreaths in the section where Garcia is buried.
HOW IT ALL STARTED AT DFW NATIONAL CEMETERY
Mary and Chris Bush started the local Wreaths Across America chapter the same year their son - soldier Cpl. Peter Courcy of Frisco - was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2009.
Ever since then, they’ve collected donations to purchase fresh wreaths to lay on the memorials at the cemetery. In the first year, they laid 250 wreaths. The endeavor has grown over the years, with thousands of volunteers helping place wreaths at every single grave in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
If you aren't aware of how massive the DFW National Cemetery is, it is one of the largest in the country, with a capacity of 280,000.
