Wreaths Across America to honor Fort Walton Beach veterans at Beal Memorial Cemetery

Devon Ravine, Northwest Florida Daily News

November 17, 2022 at 5:00 AM·2 min read

Local veterans are working to see that their fallen comrades are honored and remembered this holiday season by taking part in the national program Wreaths Across America.

The wreath-laying ceremony is scheduled for 9 a.m. Dec. 17 at Beal Memorial Cemetery.

Founded in 2007, Wreaths Across America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing wreaths for veterans in nearly 3,000 cemeteries across the country and at American military cemeteries overseas. This will mark the third year that veterans buried at Beal Memorial Cemetery in Fort Walton Beach will be included in the event.

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A wreath donated through the Wreaths Across America program adorns a veteran's grave in Beal Memorial Cemetery during an event in 2020.

In its first year, volunteers placed 600 wreaths on grave sites at the cemetery. Last year, that number more than doubled to nearly 1,300 wreaths. This year, event organizers Dennis Krebs and Tom Rice would like to be able to place wreaths on the graves of all the veterans buried at the cemetery.

"Our goal is 1,800 wreaths," said Tom Rice, one of the event's organizers. "Today we're at about 50%, which is where we were last year at this time so we've got our fingers crossed."

Rice said the wreaths are purchased by donors online and delivered by truck a few days before the Dec. 17 ceremony. The wreaths are held in cold storage at City Produce and, the day before the event, volunteers stage boxes of wreaths around the cemetery.

Retired Chief Master Sgt. Tom Herlihy with the Northwest Florida chapter of the Air Force Security Forces Association salutes a fellow veteran after placing a reef on his grave during a past Wreaths Across America event held at Beal Memorial Cemetery in this Daily News file photo.

"At 9 a.m. on that Saturday, we will ring the great bronze bell at Veterans Tribute Tower and present the colors," Rice said.

The 30-minute ceremony will include remarks by Lt. Gen. Jim Slife, commander of the U.S. Air Force's Special Operations Command and the unveiling of wreaths for each individual branch of service, as wells wreaths for POW/MIAs and Gold Star Families.

After that, volunteers will fan out and begin placing the wreaths.

Donors and volunteers still needed for Wreaths Across America

The clock faces on the Veterans Tribute Tower at Beal Memorial Cemetery bear the inscription "take time to remember."

Rice said they are still looking for donors for the wreaths, and volunteers to help with staging Dec. 16 and placing the wreaths on Dec. 17.

"It's good to have about 100 to 125 volunteers," said Rice, noting "it's a long walk and it's a big cemetery."

Rice said volunteers are asked to take their time.

"We ask the volunteers to be respectful and, when you lay the wreath, read the veteran's name," Rice said. "Like it says on the Veterans Tribute Tower clock, 'take time to remember.'"

Individual wreaths are $15 and can be purchased at wreathsacrossamerica.org and entering Beal Memorial Cemetery in Fort Walton Beach from the "sponsor a specific cemetery" tab.

To volunteer either with the Dec. 16 preparation or the Dec. 17 wreath laying, contact Dennis Krebs by phone at 850-855-3357 or by email at DNomadChief@aol.com.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Fort Walton Beach Wreaths Across America honors Beal Memorial veterans

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Donors and volunteers still needed for Wreaths Across America

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