The annual Wreaths Across America Day is still many months away, but the national Wreaths Across American organization is already ramping up its efforts.
Recently national organizers revealed that the 2026 Wreaths Across America theme is “Remember Me: Stories From the Home Front.” The idea is to ensure that the individual names, families, and sacrifices of our veterans are not just recognized collectively, but remembered personally.
Karen Worcester, Wreaths Across America Executive Director, explained on the website,
“We often speak of “our service members” as though they are one unified group. Yet within that group are countless individuals, each with a name, a family, and a story that helped shape the freedoms we cherish today. While we honor them collectively, we can sometimes overlook the deeply personal sacrifices: the parent who never met a grandchild, the young recruit asked to shoulder more than any teenager should, the veteran who returned home carrying memories too heavy to share.”
Behind every wreath laid in December lies a deeply personal story, she added. Like Kevin in Home Alone said, “Maybe they don’t forget about you, but they forget to remember you.”
To support this effort, local Wreaths Across America Coordinator Cherie Wood would like to share your veterans’ stories. She’d like to hear about your service or the service of a veteran family member or friend. Include where they served, when, stories and a photo or video. They don’t have to have been local soldiers, or have died in battle. They can be from conflicts long ago or much more recent. Because everyone who served has sacrificed something. Email your stories to WebsterWreaths@icloud.com.
I’ll start us out with a story about my paternal grandfather:
On April 25, 1918, 21-year old Orville W. Best, from Kansas City, Missouri, volunteered for military service to fight the Germans in WWI. After basic training he was sent to France in June, 1918 as part of the 89th Infantry Division.
Soon promoted to Corporal, Best served in both the Mihiel Offensive and the Meuse-Argonnne Offensive in Northern France. On Nov. 3, 1918, during the third phase of Meusse-Argonne, and just eight days before the armistice and end of the fighting in France, Corporal Best was injured in a mustard gas attack by the Germans, and suffered a machine gun wound to the stomach.
Best survived his injuries, recovering in an Army hospital in France, and returned to the United States in March 1919. He lived the rest of his life in Kansas City, married to his wife Blanche for more than 50 years, but he struggled with respiratory issues all of this life.
For his service to your country. Corporal Best was awarded the American Victory Medal (with France Bar), the Service Medal from the State of Missouri, and a Purple Heart.
Now it’s your turn. This year, let’s do more than just remember the battles that were fought. Let’s really try to remember the individual soldiers who sacrificed so many things when they were fighting for our country. Email your stories to WebsterWreaths@icloud.com.
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(posted 1/23/2026)
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