News Release

Wreaths Across America 2019

Wreaths in Section J and K

NPS C/Barr

News Release Date: November 27, 2019

Contact: Charles Barr, 229-924-0343 x. 112

Andersonville News Release

Release Date: 25 November 2019
Contacts:    Charles Barr, [e-mail], 229 924-0343, ext. 112

NR19-07                     

Wreaths Across America at Andersonville National Cemetery
Call for Volunteers
Annual ceremony to occur on Saturday, December 14, 2019

ANDERSONVILLE, Georgia – Andersonville National Historic Site invites you to remember and honor our military veterans during this winter season by participating in our Wreaths Across America event on Saturday, December 14, 2019.

At 12:00 pm the Civil Air Patrol will conduct a brief ceremony in Andersonville National Cemetery to honor America's armed forces. This ceremony is open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to bring a wreath for placement on a veteran’s grave. After the ceremony, attendees can help remember our fallen veterans by placing wreaths sponsored through Wreaths Across America on graves in the national cemetery.

Andersonville National Cemetery would like your help in placing the wreaths from Wreaths Across America this year. Park entrance and the event are free, and we encourage everyone to come out and be a part of this special opportunity to remember the military men and women who are buried in our cemetery and in national cemeteries across the nation.

Wreaths Across America is a national program that encourages individuals, community groups, and families to sponsor wreaths for placement in national cemeteries throughout the United States. These wreaths may be placed on specific graves, or left undesignated to place on one of thousands of unvisited veterans’ graves. Each year, between 1,000 and 10,000 wreaths are donated through this program for placement at Andersonville National Cemetery.

Our goal is to ensure that each of the more than 20,000 gravesites in the cemetery is decorated with a wreath at least once. To accomplish this, undesignated wreaths are placed sequentially and rotated from one cemetery section to the next each year. For 2019, undesignated wreaths will be placed in Sections A, B, C, R, D, E, and F and in the Memorial Section.

Beginning December 1, 2019, wreaths no larger than 20 inches and floral blankets no larger than 2 feet by 3 feet are permitted in the cemetery. Wreaths should be brought in person, or delivered by a florist, directly to the gravesite. To find the location of a specific grave, please visit http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov, or call or stop by the National Prisoner of War Museum for assistance.

“For more than 240 years, the men and women of our nation’s armed forces have spent countless holidays away from loved ones, protecting our freedom,” said Acting Superintendent Barbara Hatcher. “Placing a wreath on these veterans’ graves is a touching and beautiful way to honor all those who have sacrificed so much in service to our country.”

Andersonville National Historic Site is located 10 miles south of Oglethorpe, GA and 10 miles northeast of Americus, GA on Georgia Highway 49. The national park features the National Prisoner of War Museum, Andersonville National Cemetery and the site of the historic Civil War prison, Camp Sumter. ­Andersonville National Historic Site is the only site within the National Park System to serve as a memorial to all American prisoners of war. Park grounds are open from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The National Prisoner of War Museum is open 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., daily. Admission is free. For more information on the park, call 229 924-0343, or visit our website  at www.nps.gov/ande/. Visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AndersonvilleNPS, on Twitter at www.twitter.com/andeNHS, or on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2IJCqxeKsKMlxDH5dfYMhA.

NPS

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