Christmas wreaths for fallen veterans

December 17, 2016

Shortly after noon on Saturday, JoAnna Refsland searched for her father’s grave marker under a cover of white at Wil- lamette National Cemetery.

Her father, George Kirk, U.S. Army, served in Korea and is buried in section Q.

“I know where his grave is but the snow has me a little confused,” JoAnna said. She carried a Christmas wreath and brushed snow from various markers.

“We saw the story in the Oregonian about Christmas wreaths,” Rick Refsland said.

Members of the Civil Air Patrol in Oregon have been coordinating volunteers to place Christmas wreaths on grave markers at Willamette National Cemetery as part of Wreaths Across America since 2007.

At 2:30 sharp a bagpiper began to play Amazing Grace. When he finished playing, four members of the Sons of the American Revo- lution, dressed in colonial uniforms, fired single shots from their muskets.

As the musket smoke drifted away, approximately 150 volunteers collected Christmas wreaths and headed into Section P, placing a single wreath on each marker. Within 15 minutes nearly all the 1,140 markers had a Christmas wreath.

Owen Tieman-Woodward and Jackson Erwin helped clear grave markers with a broom.

Tamika Jefferson, Miss Idaho, 2016, recently moved to the area and came to place Christmas wreaths, even though nobody related to her is buried there.

Colton Swift, 13, a cadet with the Civil Air Patrol, was here for the first time. He placed one of the last wreaths.

Maj. Dwayne Schnelle wore his dress blues and snapped a salute over a marker. “I have soldiers up here that I lost in Afghanistan. And it hurts,” he said.

After searching for 10 minutes JoAnna Refsland thrust her thumb in the air and yelled, “I found him!”, then bent down.

As a few snowflakes fell, Cpl. George Kirk received his Christmas wreath.

Copyright The Oregonian