By Taylor Sterling
This past Saturday I participated in one of the most auspicious days of the year, the laying of a wreath on every one of the 4,000 graves in the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Goshen. As always, I am there with the President of the Orange County Chapter of the Nam Knights, John “Cheech” Richichi and the entire group of Nam Knights, some who rode in on their motorcycles! This year was by far the largest crowd and although this was a bitter chilling day, not one person spoke of the weather. All were focused on laying those wreaths on each and every gravesite as we all whispered a prayer over each one. 
One of the graves sites that I always stop by is of Korean War Veteran, Joseph Dierna, who is the father of Fran Cardone, a Cardiac Nurse for over 30 years and wife of Monroe Supervisor, Tony Cardone. Also in attendance was the elementary school children with their teachers, Theresa Canfield and Amy Buliung who raised over $4,500 this year for the Nam Knights to purchase wreaths. The tradition of laying wreaths to honor veterans began in 1992, when Morrill Worcester, the owner of Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, Maine, had extra wreaths at the close of the holiday season. Worcester remembered a boyhood trip to Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. and decided to donate 5,000 wreaths to be placed on the headstones of an older section of the cemetery. By 2014, Wreaths Across America and its national network of volunteers laid over 700,000 memorial wreaths at 1,000 locations in the United States and beyond, including ceremonies at the Pearl Harbor Memorial, Bunker Hill, Valley Forge, and the sites of the September 11th tragedies. This ritual is to honor and commemorate the sacrifices made by so many for our freedom, our Country and for every American to live in peace! The Director of Veteran Affairs, Christian Farrell, is as always, the moderator of the event and added, “When I came back from Iraq, I was greeted in the airport by total strangers, not just my family, but total strangers who were applauding and thanking you, and it makes you feel good. Farrell said thanking a veteran goes a long way. The military is all about selfless service. “When you go home Tell them of us and say For your tomorrow We gave our today.”
