Volunteers help to lay holiday wreaths at graves at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Saturday Dec. 15, 2018, during Wreaths Across America Day. Wreaths Across America was started in 1992 at Arlington National Cemetery by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester and has expanded to hundreds of veterans' cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Volunteers help to lay holiday wreaths at graves at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Saturday Dec. 15, 2018, during Wreaths Across America Day. Wreaths Across America was started in 1992 at Arlington National Cemetery by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester and has expanded to hundreds of veterans' cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
(Harrington, Maine) –Thousands of Maine-made wreaths are starting the long journey to Arlington National Cemetery.
A caravan of trucks loaded with wreaths departed Saturday from a high school parking lot in Harrington, Maine. The national president of American Gold Star Mothers Inc., Mona Gunn, will lead the caravan as grand marshal. Her son died in a terrorist attack on the USS Cole.
About 250,000 wreaths on 10 tractor-trailers are headed to the cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, where they will be placed on headstones on Saturday, Dec.14. Wreaths are also being shipped to veterans cemeteries across the United States and around the world.
The tradition began when Maine wreath maker Morrill Worcester’s Worcester Wreath Company donated 5,000 wreaths to Arlington Cemetery.
Wreaths Across America has grown since then. A spokeswoman said more than 2 million wreaths will be placed on markers across more than 2,000 locations this holiday season.
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