With a look of reverence, Keokuk High School senior Ethan Roylance stepped back from a gravestone of a fallen soldier that he had never met to examine the holiday wreath that he had placed carefully and adjusted twice to make sure it framed their name. Roylance and about 50 of his classmates volunteered for Wreaths Across America to honor those who served this holiday season by placing wreaths on gravestones on Dec. 17 at the Keokuk National Cemetery.
“As you place a wreath on a gravestone, make sure to read the name, fluff the bow and set the wreath carefully so that the name is still visible,” Mindy Rude, a Wreaths Across America representative and Keokuk native, said. Students from special education, the History Club and FFA, took this to heart and loaded up their arms with wreaths to fan out across the oldest portion of Iowa’s only National Cemetery to get started where many of those buried no longer have living relatives nearby. Kendrick Smith, a junior and varsity basketball player, knelt down to place a wreath on a gravestone after reading the service person’s name and his friend Quintin Vanderpool, a senior football player and FFA member, reminded him with all seriousness, “don’t forget to fluff the bow, man.”
Wreaths Across America is a nationwide event that was started in 2007 to remember fallen military members and originated at Arlington National Cemetery and nationally the organization estimated that more than two million volunteers participate annually. Family members of those that have passed and other community members sponsored wreaths to be placed on the grave stones.
Keokuk students first participated in the event about three years ago when KCSD Transportation Director Dave Grogan suggested it after visiting the cemetery during an especially difficult holiday season after a loss in the family. Grogan said he believed the students would benefit from learning more about “the sacrifices of those who served so that we could have all that we have today.”
“My grandpa’s gravestone is over there,” Joseph Abfalter-Dial, a KHS student, said as he explained that he was walking between the stones instead of across to avoid disrespecting those buried there. Many students looked for family member’s names to look for familial connections to the past.
Each December the number of KHS students has at least doubled as they bundle up and carefully place the wreaths, for more information on the event go to wreathsacrossamerica.org.
