American Legion Post 109 Gears Up for Wreaths Across America in Hart County

The Hart County American Legion Post 109 is once again putting together an effort to lay memorial wreaths on the graves of every fallen veteran in the county.

It’s part of a national effort called Wreaths Across America, and on Saturday, December 12th, a special ceremony will take place at Nancy Hart Memorial Park to honor those Hart County servicemen who have passed away.

Post 109 member Jerry Cleary is spearheading the effort in Hart County.

“This is our second year,” Cleary said. “The dedication ceremony is Saturday at noon at Nancy Hart Memorial Park, and hopefully by then the wreaths will have all come in and we will have laid the wreaths on some 1,700 veterans’ graves.”

Last year was the first time Hart County’s Post 109 held the Wreaths Across America program and Cleary said he expects an even bigger response this year.

“We had a great outpouring of support last year,” he explained. “We raised enough funds to place the 1,700 wreaths and we just kept building momentum and we have added more names to our database for this year.”

Cleary says Wreaths Across America is a great teaching tool for children to educate them on the meaning of freedom and liberty and the contribution veterans have made.

Cleary said Post 109 members will be picking up the wreaths on Thursday and will then spend the next two days placing wreaths on the graves of fallen soldiers across some 20 cemeteries in the county.

However, he says it is not too late for someone to get their veteran placed on the list for a wreath.

“They can still call me,” Cleary said. “There will also be a list in Thursday’s Hartwell Sun called, “The Wall of Honor” where they can see if their veteran is in our database. Or they can go to our Web site, www.alpost109.org and check our database. If they don’t see their veteran’s name, they can call me and we can still take care of it.”

If you live in Hart County and would like a wreath placed on your veteran’s grave you can contact Cleary at 770-861-0898.

Again the Wreaths Across America ceremony takes place at noon this Saturday at Nancy Hart Memorial Park and the public is invited to attend.