Thousands gather for 20th annual wreath laying ceremony at Central Texas veterans cemetery
KILLEEN, Texas (KWTX) - Thousands of people gathered Saturday morning at the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery for the 20th annual wreath laying ceremony, honoring all veterans laid to rest there.
Major General Andy Cox spoke at today’s ceremony, sharing more about the veterans buried there.
“More than 100 of those veterans died while on active duty. Over 40 of them gave the ultimate sacrifice and were killed in action whilst defending America and America’s values,” he said.
Around 17,000 wreaths were laid on gravestones at the cemetery, but when it first opened 20 years ago only five wreaths were laid.
“I took my mother-in-law to that event and we sat there and looked at it and said someday this cemetery will be filled with 50,000 graves, and the thought of there only being five wreaths laid was heartbreaking to us,” said Hilary Shine.
That moment prompted Shine and her mother-in-law, Jean Shine, to start the Wreaths for Vets project.
“We searched high and low for 300 wreaths… took trucks all over Central Texas to find matching wreaths and were able to lay wreaths that year for those that had been laid to rest,” Hilary Shine said.
Every year since, they have added hundreds more wreaths. Volunteers help prepare the thousands of wreaths before they are laid on graves in a special ceremony.
“Our wreaths are prepared by people, they’re laid by people, for the people that they may or may not have known,” Shine shared, “it’s a sign of respect and we want them to know that they’re remembered and anyone who comes to our cemetery to know that we never forget”.
Family members and loved ones like Caiden Douchand are grateful for the tradition. Douchand laid a wreath on his aunt’s grave for the second year.
“It means a lot, it means that we’re always there for her and that we’re always gonna care for her and that she’s not alone, and that someone’s always there,” Douchand said.
Shine said they hope to continue the tradition for many years to come.
Wreaths for Vets has their wreath retrieval scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 10. More information is can be found here.
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