The Wreaths Across America remembrance ceremony is Dec. 14 at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley and at other cemeteries across Northern Nevada. Scores of volunteers assisted with the placement of wreaths in 2023.
Photo by Steve Ranson.
With less than a month remaining before this year’s Wreath Across America remembrance, the Nevada Veterans Coalition is still seeking donations for the Dec. 14 event at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
“We should be OK, but we never know,” said Richard Crombie, spokesman for the NVC which sponsors the annual remembrance.
The annual event begins at 9 a.m., to coincide with the worldwide placement of wreaths. The time is based on the noon start at the Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington, D.C.
Crombie said the coalition needs more donations to ensure each veteran is remembered, and if the 2024 goal is met, then the funds will be rolled over to the 2025 ceremony.
“We never want to be in a situation where we run out of wreaths,” he said. “So far since 2017, we have been able to cover every single wreath for every single grave.”
The wreaths are not only placed at Fernley but also at cemeteries across the state and at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City. Visitors placed more than 13,000 wreaths at the SNVMC in 2024.
During the Fernley ceremony, representatives for the specific military services along with a Sea Cadet will place a wreath at a flag associated with that specific branch of the armed forces. Cadets assist with the ceremony and also help afterward by placing wreaths on the individual gravesites.
“I don’t want people to get complacent,” Crombie said. “We will take donations all the way up to the event.”
Crombie said donations may be hand delivered to the WAA remembrance, sent via the U.S. Postal Service or online.
Since the Fernley cemetery was established in 1990, the number of veterans and family members interred at the NNVMC has exceeded 10,000.
Although the wreaths remembrance is a solemn ceremony, Crombie said it portrays a different meaning from Memorial Day, whereby those killed in service to their country are honored and remembered along with other veterans.
The concept is different than Memorial Day, which is observed on the last Monday of May. Initially. The first Memorial Day was conducted in 1868 to remember the fallen soldiers from the American Civil War but over time to include veterans who died while serving their country. According to Wreath Across America, the ceremony is conducted either the second or third Saturday is December. The day is normally set aside to remember the deceased veterans with the sights and sounds of the holiday season.
“It is the holiday season. It is not a Christmas wreath but a memorial wreath,” Crombie emphasized.
Crombie said the red ribbon tied to each wreath may represent the yuletide holiday, but he said it’s also a symbol of a grateful nation not forgetting about the men and women who served in the military. Crombie added the ceremony also teaches the next generation the value of freedom.
Scores of boxes containing thousands of wreaths will be delivered to the NNVMC several days before Dec. 14, and Crombie said volunteers will be needed to help unload and place each box at strategic locations around the cemetery. He said a police escort will lead the truck and its precious cargo into the veterans’ cemetery.
Crombie said a day for picking up the wreaths normally occurs in January.
NEED TO KNOW
To order a wreath for Fernley’s NNVMC event, go to nnvc.org and click on Wreaths Across America for the pdf form, or mail your donation to: Nevada Veterans Coalition; P.O. Box 415; Fernley, NV 89408. If you're on their mailing list, you'll soon receive your donation information in the mail to sponsor a wreath or you can go to the Nevada Veterans Coalition website (supportnnvc.org) and click on the Wreaths Across America logo with “DONATE” on it to sponsor a wreath.