CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Cemeteries in Clarksville joined others nationwide to celebrate the lives of veterans with the Wreaths Across America event on Dec. 19.
Although the event looked a bit different from previous years, there was still a good turnout for both Resthaven Memorial Garden and Riverview Cemetery.
At Resthaven, instead of being in the chapel, the event was a drive-thru to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
This was the first year that Riverview Cemetery held the event, and it was also held outside.
“We were able to get on the registry this year,” said Angie Sikes, location coordinator of the Riverview event. “We plan to keep this going hopefully every year.”
Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts and his wife attended the service at Riverview, where he spoke and placed a wreath in commemoration of the 93,129 United States servicemen whose last known status was either prisoner of war or missing in action.
All of the wreaths that Riverview sought out were purchased, totaling over 280 wreaths.
Remember, teach and honor
According to the Wreaths Across America website, the movement picked up traction in the early 2000s with the rising prevalence of social media.
“People saw these wreaths on these tombstones and were like, ‘How can we get involved?'” Alicia Clark told Clarksville Now.
Clark, an Army veteran, has been the location coordinator for the Resthaven event for almost 10 years.
The wreaths are made of pine and shipped from a Christmas tree farm in Maine. This year, Resthaven ordered 76 boxes of wreaths. There are 1,850 veterans buried at Resthaven.
“I remember when I first came to Resthaven and they only had about 30 wreaths,” Clark said.
In 2019, enough wreaths were purchased for every veteran at Resthaven for the first time. However, the pandemic has created obstacles this year.
“We only achieved this year about 36 percent coverage,” Clark said, adding that she hopes people still learned from the event.
“That’s part of our mission, we remember our fallen, we honor them, and then we teach.”