Hundreds of veterans, families and members of the community came out to the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Park Saturday to help lay a Christmas wreath on every grave. As part of the Wreaths Across America organization, the wreath laying ceremony honors the lives, service and sacrifices of veterans across the country.
Stacy Pickering, executive director of Mississippi VA, said the ceremony in Newton was one of more than 1,100 ceremonies taking place Saturday, and a similar ceremony was being held in Kilmichael, Mississippi, where a second veterans cemetery is located.
“What we’re doing here, we have 960 individuals who are buried here, who we care for every day,” he said. “We had nine funerals in the last month alone, and we will be crossing that threshold of 1,000 veterans buried here in the next 30 days.”
Although the master of ceremonies for Saturday’s event was listed as Bill Freeman, Pickering said he had a death in the family and couldn’t attend. Filling in for Freeman was Mississippi Army National Guard former Adjutant General Leon Collins.
“When (Freeman) called and told me he was going to be unable to be here and asked me if I would, I said, ‘Where to I need to be.’” Collins said. “This is such a great occasion to honor those men and women who are laid to rest here in this cemetery, men and women who were just like so many of you.”
Collins said the men and women enshrined at the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Cemetery were members of their community, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters. Those everyday people, he said, raised their right hand and took an oath to protect their country. Saturday’s wreath laying ceremony was an opportunity to honor them for their service.
Saturday’s event was attended by members of the Boy Scouts, Mississippi Patriot Guard, families of the veterans buried at the Newton cemetery and community members, as well as public officials.
Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss, said he was honored to be able to attend the ceremony and pay respects to the veterans buried at the cemetery.
“There can be no greater service that we can perform as citizens than to remember and honor our heroes,” he said. “And I will tell you that the men and women that serve in our military, the men and women that serve each day in our law enforcement, they are true American heroes, and we thank these men and women who are buried here today.”
The Wreaths Across America campaign and wreath laying ceremony are supported by the Friends of Mississippi Veterans organization. Jack Winstead, who serves on the Friends of Mississippi Veterans Board of Directors, said the organization is honored to have help from youth groups, schools and civic organizations to help raise funds for the wreaths each year.
This year, Winstead said, the organization spent about $10,000 to provide a wreath for each grave, but that number will grow as more and more veterans are laid to rest at the cemetery.
If any youth group, civic club, church or any organization would like to get involved in next year’s wreath initiative, Winstead said the Friends of Mississippi Veterans would be glad to include them.
