Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery hosted "Wreaths Across America" to honor and remember our Nation's fallen Veterans Dec. 17.

This year marks the 24th anniversary of "Wreaths Across America" and the 10th year Fort Sam Houston has hosted a ceremony.

As part of the simultaneous service occurring at more than 1200 locations around the world, six wreaths were placed during the ceremony in honor of the five services and all prisoners of war or missing in action veterans.

"We had the biggest turnout of volunteers in the history of the ceremony [here] in San Antonio," said Judy Carlie who is the Wreaths Across America event coordinator for the city. "It took my breath away to see so many people here to help honor the fallen for the holidays and be a part of the ceremony."

The theme for this year's event was, "A person dies twice: once when they take their final breath, and later, the last time their name is spoken." Each time a wreath is placed at a headstone, a volunteer is encouraged to say the veteran's name in honor and remembrance of their service to country.

"Participation in this event means the world to me," said Master-at-Arms 1st Class Timothy Trowbridge, assigned to Naval Technical Training Center Lackland. "It's a humbling way to ensure that our fallen veterans are never forgotten and teach our Sailors where they came from and how to keep our history alive."

The event started in 1992 at the Arlington National Cemetery. Wreaths, donated by Worcester Wreath Co., were placed on veteran headstones during the holiday season in remembrance of their sacrifice.

The event gained national attention in 2005 when a photograph showing a wreath adorned on a headstone covered in snow at Arlington National Cemetery. In the following year, more than 100 cemeteries participated in the event. The number of wreaths placed this year totaled more than 41 thousand, which doubled last year's total.

There are more than 153,000 headstones in the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, and the San Antonio Wreaths Across America branch hopes to one day be able to place a wreath on every headstone.


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