MORGANTOWN — Respect was put in place Saturday afternoon at Oak Grove Cemetery.
It came in the form of 428 wreaths: One each for anyone resting there who ever wore the uniform of America’s military forces.
The Revolutionary War.
World War I, the War to End All Wars, then World War II.
Korea.
Vietnam.
And so on.
Veterans who got to come home to civilian lives, and those who didn’t.
Area chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution did the honors for the day, which was sponsored by Wreaths Across America.
The name of the outreach organization in Maine doesn’t tell the full scope of its loving mission.
Wreaths Across America does its overtures for veterans in more than 1,400 cemeteries across the U.S., and overseas, also.
“Whenever I walk a cemetery, I read each name on the headstones,” said Brenda Shinkovich, a DAR member who can trace her lineage back to Zackquill Morgan, the Revolutionary War veteran who founded Morgantown in 1785.
Shinkovich, who is vice regent of the DAR’s Elizabeth Ludington Hagans-Col. John Evans Chapter, has long been involved in the Wreaths Across America effort.
She can’t imagine not recognizing anyone who served, be it in war or peacetime, she said.
In turn, she feels placing a wreath is the least any person enjoying freedoms wrought by a veteran’s sacrifices can do.
“We must never forget their sacrifices,” she said.
“No matter where you live, the next time you have an opportunity, stop at a veteran’s cemetery,” she continued.
“You’ll be forever moved.”
Wreathes are also being placed this holiday season at West Virginia’s two national veterans cemeteries in Pruntytown and Grafton, in neighboring Taylor County.
Visit wreathsacrossamerica.org/ for more information.
