{"id":25998,"date":"2025-12-24T09:21:04","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T15:21:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=25998"},"modified":"2025-12-24T09:23:01","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T15:23:01","slug":"wreaths-across-america-ceremony-held-in-altamont-union-cemetery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/25998-wreaths-across-america-ceremony-held-in-altamont-union-cemetery\/","title":{"rendered":"Wreaths Across America Ceremony Held in Altamont Union Cemetery"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p>Union Cemetery was the site December 13 for a Wreaths Across America event.<\/p>\n<p>This year at Union Cemetery there were 52 wreaths set on veterans graves. Among the wreaths that were placed, there were seven specific wreaths for veterans that were sponsored by either family members or friends. There was also a crew of volunteers who endured the wind, cold temps and some snow to make sure the job was done. The volunteers included members of American Legion Post 512, who is the sponsorship group, and Auxiliary Unit 512. Other volunteers came from the area which also included some who had sponsored some wreaths. There also eight special wreaths placed at the Veterans Memorial that represented the U.S. Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines and the Prisoners of War\/Missing in Action (POW\/MIA). The Wreaths Across America event was held with the support of American Legion Post 512.<\/p>\n<p>The 2025 theme for Wreaths Across America (WAA) which is the national nonprofit whose year-long mission is to Remember the fallen, Honor those who serve, and Teach our children the value of freedom was \u201cKeep Moving Forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The ceremony started at 11:00 AM on the 13th of December. Ralph Rounds who is the coordinator for Wreaths Across America shared why it is so important to hold this event. After his comments Judy Borrows of Altamont sounded \u201cTaps\u201d while the veterans and others saluted the United States Flag at the Veterans Memorial at Union Cemetery.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26001 additional-class\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/union-cemetery-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1224\" height=\"918\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/union-cemetery-1.jpg 1224w, https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/union-cemetery-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/union-cemetery-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/union-cemetery-1-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1224px) 100vw, 1224px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In 2024, over three million sponsored veterans\u2019 wreaths were placed by volunteers on headstones at 4,909 participating locations worldwide. At Union Cemetery there were 65 wreaths sponsored in 2024, which was up from the 24 in 2023. This year they are hoping to do even more.<\/p>\n<p>For 2026, National Wreaths Across America Day will be held this year on Saturday, December 19, 2026. This free event is open to all, and the organization encourages community members to participate by volunteering locally or sponsoring a wreath for an American hero.<\/p>\n<p>If you would like to sponsor a wreath for the 2026 campaign you can go to: https:\/\/wreathsacrossamerica.org\/pages\/181121\/Overview\/?relatedId=0 or go to the Wreaths Across America website<br \/>\nand locate the Post 512 wreaths group page which is: IL0305P &#8211; Grobengieser-Fischer Post 512 for the information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Union Cemetery was the site December 13 for a Wreaths Across America event. This year at Union Cemetery there were 52 wreaths set on veterans graves. Among the wreaths that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":25955,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Wreaths Across America Ceremony Held in Altamont Union Cemetery - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/25998-wreaths-across-america-ceremony-held-in-altamont-union-cemetery\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wreaths Across America Ceremony Held in Altamont Union Cemetery - 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