A moving ceremony in the chill air at St. Agnes Cemetery gathered a large group of volunteers to help Wreaths Across America (WAA) Branford organizer Mark Hally distribute 1,100 wreaths at military graves at the town’s seven cemeteries on Saturday, Dec. 14.
Each year on National WAA Day, wreaths like those now gracing Branford veterans’ graves are placed on military graves at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia and other military graves across the country in towns undertaking individual efforts like Hally’s. In 2022, WAA placed 2.2 million sponsored veterans wreaths on headstones of the nation’s service members at 3,702 participating locations, including Branford.
Maine wreath business owner Morrill Worcester began the tradition at Arlington National Cemetery in 1992 and founded the nonprofit WAA in 2007. Each year, an impressive, extensive WAA convoy travels from Harrington, Maine to Arlington bring wreaths to the national site…