Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 803 has joined five other organizations in seeking to decorate every veteran’s grave Woodlawn National Cemetery in Elmira, N.Y., with wreaths at Christmastime. Local Wreaths Across America organizers have fallen short for several years, and alongside American Legion Post 443, the Department of New York State Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Auxiliary, Vulcraft of New York, Cameron Manufacturing, and the Horseheads Moose Lodge 1476, Chapter 803 hopes to change that.
The organizations are offering wreath sponsorships at $15 each or three for $30. “Our hope is to get a wreath on every gravestone,” said Wreaths Across America’s VVA chapter co-chair, Steve Mower. “But it’s a long uphill fight to get it done. But we try every year. We’re making headway. We’re getting more.”