Truckers Volunteer to Honor Veterans with 200,000 Wreaths at Cemeteries
This story appears in the Dec. 20 & 27 print edition of Transport Topics.
What started in 1992 as a project to honor veterans by laying 5,000 holiday wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery has grown to more than 200,000 wreaths and 100,000 volunteers, including a convoy of tractor-trailers that earlier this month carried donated wreaths to more than 500 burial sites for veterans in every state, Puerto Rico and 24 cemeteries on foreign soil.
“I’m honored and humbled to be hauling these wreaths,” said Jeff Edmonson, a driver for Fikes Truck Line in Hope, Ark., who delivered wreaths to national cemeteries in Alabama and Louisiana as part of Wreaths Across America Day, an event on the second Saturday of December each year.
Fikes President Gary Salisbury said he was “inspired” to participate in the event for the first time this year after talking to Neal Pottle of Pottle’s Transportation in Bangor, Maine.
Pottle’s is one of more than a dozen trucking companies, along with American Trucking Associations, that provide equipment and volunteer drivers to make the special deliveries and commemorate the lives of fallen soldiers.
“This is just a small gesture to honor and remember their lives,” Salisbury said.
Tony Cunningham, a driver for Schneider National Inc., Green Bay, Wis., drove the “Ride of Pride,” a military-themed trailer, as part of a convoy of trucks carrying wreaths donated by Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine, to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.
The tradition of laying wreaths at Arlington began in 1992 when businessman Morrill Worcester found his company with an excess of wreaths near the end of the holiday season. With the help of Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), arrangements were made for the wreaths to be placed in one of the older sections of the cemetery.
In 2005, a photo of snow-covered gravestones adorned with wreaths gained national attention, and the subsequent outpouring of requests led to the creation of the nonprofit organization now called Wreaths Across America.
Other companies that provided transportation services include: AAA Cooper Transportation, Allen Lund Co., Baylor Trucking, Boyle Transportation, C.R. England, Cargo Transporters, Chapman Trucking, Cianbro Corp., Covenant Transportation, Dart Transit Co., Dysart’s Transportation, Earl L. Henderson Trucking, Federal Express, FFE Transportation Services, Freymiller Inc., G&P Trucking, Hartt Transportation, Jagtrux Inc., Lapp USA Inc., Motor Carrier Services, Perdue Trucking, Portland Air Freight, Prime Inc., Ross Express, Ryder System, Swift Transportation, UPS Inc., U.S. Xpress Enterprises, Watkins & Shepard Trucking, WEL Cos., Witte Bros. Exchange and Wal-Mart Transportation.
