On Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024, thousands of people braved cold temperatures to honor the country’s fallen by laying holiday wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) — one of more than 4,900 locations nationwide to participate in Wreaths Across America Day.
Some attended alone or with family. Others came with school groups, sports teams or office mates. Some wore military, police or Scout uniforms. They stood in lines to pick up wreaths from the backs of trucks parked along the avenues before heading out into sections. Some people read the names silently before they laid their wreath; others spent a quiet moment in front of a headstone or columbarium niche; a few saluted the fallen.
Numerous families came to lay wreaths at their loved one’s grave markers. Retired U.S. Army Capt. Duana Hall visited from Clarksville, Tennessee, to lay a wreath at her son’s grave. “It was hard,” she said, “but there’s something empowering about the whole event.” She added that choosing ANC as her son’s final resting place was the best decision she ever made. “It gives me peace knowing he is still protected by the best.”
Marilyn Fulton and her daughter, Stephanie Woodward, traveled all the way from Portland, Oregon, to lay a wreath at the grave of U.S. Navy Cmdr. Stephen Fulton, Marilyn’s husband and Stephanie’s father. They had buried him nine months earlier. “He and I visited here together back in 2021 when he decided he wanted to be buried here,” recalled Stephanie, who is named after her father. This was the first time that either of them had seen Fulton’s headstone. “It was very emotional to see the headstone,” Stephanie said. The words “BELOVED HUSBAND, FATHER, BROTHER, GRANDPA & SON” are etched into Fulton’s headstone.
Teenaged friends Mary Ross and Natalia Rodriguez attended with their families. Ross’s father is an Army soldier, while Rodriguez’s father is a Marine. Ross appreciated reading names on grave markers and learning about the people buried at ANC. “When you’re saying their names, you’re giving them life again,” she said.
David Bednarski brought his 11-year-old daughter, Kate, from Allentown, Pennsylvania, to participate in their second Wreaths Across America Day. They laid wreaths at multiple headstones in Sections 32 and 33 in hopes of paying it forward. Bednarski’s brother, who served in the Air Force, lays at rest at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver, Colorado. “Laying a wreath was important to him,” Bednarski remembered. “Now that he’s gone, we’ve made a point to get here and lay a wreath on someone else’s grave in hopes that someone out there is putting one on his.”
