Live Oak preparing for Wreaths Across America event

Keith Churchill said a lot of the veterans buried at the Live Oak Cemetery District don’t have families or anyone who can properly decorate their graves.

Churchill, a member of the Live Oak Lions Club and American Legion, wants to make sure each of the 539 veterans are properly respected with wreaths that state the veteran’s name and branch of service in preparation for National Wreaths Across America on Saturday, Dec. 14.

Much like what is done at other area cemeteries, Churchill said each veteran’s grave will be decorated with a wreath and have the name announced with branch of service.

The ceremony is Dec. 14, but anyone planning to donate should do so soon – it takes a while to order and deliver the wreaths.

“We’re trying to honor all the

veterans,” said Churchill, a Navy veteran who fought in the Korean War. “(The goal) is for them not be forgotten.”

Last year, Churchill said, some of the graves were not distinctly decorated. “That’s a shame,” Churchill said. National Wreaths Across America Day was started years ago by a wreath-maker in Maine who delivered his extra wreaths to Arlington Cemetery. Since then, the event has grown to 1,600 cemeteries across the U.S. and overseas.

Tom Walther, an event volunteer and president of the Military

Officers Association of America for six counties, said in a previous Appeal-democrat story that the veterans are given a respectful goodbye at the ceremony. “A veteran dies twice,” Walther said. “When they take their last breath and when their name is last said.”

Churchill said he wants the same type of ceremony at the Live Oak cemetery for each of its veterans, who have served in almost all of the country’s wars except for the War of 1812.

He said there’s even a veteran from the Spanish-american War buried at the Live Oak cemetery.