Wreath-laying ceremony at Canaveral Cemetery honors US vets

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MIMS — The air was crisp with the smell of Christmas trees as about 1,000 people gathered at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery on Saturday morning to lay wreaths on veterans’ gravestones.

The ceremony was part of the nationwide mission, Wreaths Across America, which honors veterans by adorning their graves with wreaths bought with money donated by the community. Throughout the country, people gathered at graves to honor veterans with evergreen wreaths. In Brevard, additional ceremonies were held in Melbourne, Cocoa and Titusville.

“This is an exercise of patriotism and passion and honor to make sure every veteran is honored and remembered,” said Donn Weaver, chair of the Brevard Veterans Council. “Each wreath is a gift of appreciation from a grateful American. (From) many of you, and thousands of others that contributed as well.”

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Multiple people spoke during the ceremony held just before noon Saturday, including Weaver; Tim Thomas, Melbourne City Council member and lieutenant colonel with the Army; state Sen. Debbie Mayfield, R-Melbourne; Betty Jo Green, location coordinator for Wreaths Across America at the national cemetery; and others.

“We owe a great deal of gratitude to our veterans who served our nation and to their families for saving society,” Mayfield said. “This is one small way of remembering our veterans and showing appreciation to their families during this holiday season when they are missed the most.”

Thomas expressed gratitude to the community for caring for veterans.

“We have 67,000 veterans that live here in Brevard County,” he said. “There’s not a county in the nation that does more to support Wreaths Across America than Brevard.”

Thomas went on to say that these ceremonies were important in teaching America’s youth about the values assocaited with patriotism.

“(These) have been a wonderful teaching opportunity to show our youth the importance of selfless service as well as the importance of standing up for liberty and all the freedoms that we take for granted every day,” he said.

Following the ceremony, family members of fallen veterans and other community members were invited to help lay the wreaths against the gravestones. There were enough wreaths for 10,600 graves, Weaver said.

Each placement was to be carried out with an air of reverence, he said.

“We ask each volunteer who places a wreath on a veteran’s grave to say that veteran’s name and their service and anything else you want to read on the (grave) marker,” Weaver said. “Say it aloud and take a moment to thank them for their service to our country. It’s a small act that goes a long way to keeping the memory of our veterans alive.”

The cemetery, which was dedicated in November 2015 and first used as a burial ground in 2016, spans 318 acres. That’s large enough to accommodate more than 163,000 veterans over the course of the next century.

Weaver said 3.6 million wreaths were expected to be placed at cemeteries across the country Saturday.

Finch Walker is a breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @_finchwalker