Navy Chief Petty Officer Charles Grosvenor served as the master of ceremonies.
After a moment of silence, cadets from the Civil Air Patrol’s Santa Fe Composite Squadron and Santa Fe High School’s Navy Jr. ROTC Battalion presented the colors to the audience.
Gold Star and Blue Star Mothers, accompanied by cadets, placed wreaths with ribbons for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines, and Prisoners of War/Missing in Action on waiting stands.
Maj. Gen. Mark Smith, Civil Air Patrol national commander, and Air Force Lt. Col. Michelle Boyko, an emergency preparedness liaison officer, were the guest speakers. Both explained the “Remember, Honor, Teach” motto of Wreaths Across America.
The Sons of the American Legion then fired three rifle volleys and sounded “Taps” before a bagpiper played “Amazing Grace.”
Civil Air Patrol Lt. Col. Angie Slingluff then instructed volunteers on where and how to place the wreaths. She asked volunteers to read aloud the name of each veteran before placing a wreath at the tombstone. Some volunteers read entire tombstone epitaphs before laying wreaths.
Slingluff also asked volunteers to refrain from placing wreaths at tombstones without Christian symbols but urged them to pay respects to those veterans before moving on to the next grave.
Col. Anthony Leal, the deputy chief of staff for personnel at Joint Forces Headquarters-New Mexico, represented the New Mexico National Guard.
Other participating organizations included the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, Stephen Watts Kearny Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Los Alamos National Laboratory, American Legion Riders, New Mexico Patriot Guard Riders, Santa Fe Fire Department, Santa Fe Police Department, Teamsters Union Local 492-New Mexico, and the New Mexico State Defense Force.
Wreaths Across America has grown from the first observance at Arlington National Cemetery in 1992 to include 1,400 locations in all 50 states, overseas, and at sea. The project’s website at URL https://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/ has more information.
]]>
