 Click on photograph to enlarge Graves decorated with Worcester's Wreaths |
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Maine Remembers
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| By now, most
newspapers have reported the fact that a dedicated group of Maine residents
show up to greet every plane that lands at the Bangor Airport that contains
servicemen and women either going to or returning from assignments overseas.
It makes no difference if the fuel stop in Maine is at two or four o'clock
in the morning. These dedicated people show up and applaud, shake hands,
hug and otherwise let our citizens in uniform know how much they are truly
appreciated and honored. What most people do not know, is something else that is done by other Maine citizens who pay tribute to our fallen soldiers buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Each December since 1992, Mr. Morrill R. Worcester, owner of the Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington Maine, makes and donates 5,000 wreaths decorated with red ribbons to honor those buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The wreaths are transported to Virginia courtesy of the Blue Bird Trucking Company of Jonesboro, Maine. The Maine State Society of Washington, D.C., acts as the coordinator between Mr. Worcester and the superintendent of the cemetery who, with the Society, plans the placement of the wreaths each year. Those sections are chosen so that eventually every grave site will have been decorated. Mr. Worcester is committed to honoring all veterans, not just those from Maine. Each year, members of The Maine State Society of Washington , D.C., arrange for volunteers, including school children, to place the decorated wreaths. This original program has, in recent years, been expanded. Now 10,000 wreaths are donated each year to Arlington National Cemetery and other groups have begun to copy Mr. Worcester's act of remembrance at other military cemeteries throughout the United States. There are a few sites that do get wreaths each and every year. Those include a special wreath for the U.S.S. Battleship Maine Monument in the cemetery, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers and on the grave of the late Governor of Maine and former U.S. Senator, Edward Muskie. Arlington National Cemetery is one of our nation's most hallowed cemeteries. This marvelous program was expanded to include many other military cemeteries in our nation in the year 2006. |
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Click on photograph to enlarge Graves decorated with Worcester's Wreaths |
 Click on photograph to enlarge Tomb of the Unknowns |