'Tis the season to remember, honor, teach Published Dec. 17, 2014 By Staff Sgt. Laura R. McFarlane 17th Training Wing Public Affairs SAN ANGELO, Texas -- Goodfellow Air Force Base service members joined local community members to honor fallen veterans, laying more than 90 wreaths on headstones during Wreaths Across America at Belvedere Cemetery Dec. 13. The San Angelo Composite Squadron Civil Air Patrol hosted the ceremony at 11 a.m., synchronized with the ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, where the placing of wreaths on veterans' graves began in 1992. According to www.wreathsacrossamerica.org, Morrill Worcester, Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington owner, used the company's surplus of wreaths in 1992, to honor the nation's veterans by placing wreaths on the headstones in one of the older sections of Arlington receiving fewer visitors each year. In 2005, a photo of the wreaths at Arlington hit the internet and thousands of requests poured in from people who wanted to help and copy the Arlington project at national and state cemeteries. The Worcester family, veterans, individuals and various groups who had contributed over the years, formed WAA in 2007. The mission of WAA is remember, honor, teach. Remember the fallen, honor those who serve and teach children the value of freedom. A quote from former President Ronald Reagan elaborates the importance of their charge. "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." Dana Gray, San Angelo Composite Squadron Civil Air Patrol commander, comes from a line of military members and coordinates the local WAA to recognize her military ancestry. "This is a way to honor and respect those who have served, are serving and have died to make this country what it is today," said Gray.
