With tears in his eyes, Jakob Burg saluted and said, “Thank you for your service, Sgt. Richard Hanhart,” as he placed a Christmas wreath at the foot of the grave of his grandfather, who served in the U.S. Army during Vietnam.
Burg, a 16-year-old J.R.O.T.C. cadet from Central Regional High School, Bayville, and member of the town’s St. Barnabas Parish, was one of more than 200 participants Dec. 14 at the first observance of National Wreaths Across America Day at St. Joseph Cemetery and Mausoleum in Toms River.
Photo Gallery: Wreaths Across America in Toms River
The program dedicated to remembering the fallen members of the Armed Services and those missing in action began at Arlington National Cemetery in the early 1990s by Morrill Worcester, a wreath-maker and businessman who found himself with an overabundance of wreaths at the end of the holiday season one year. The practice expanded throughout the United States and then overseas as other organizations joined the cause.
Father Scott Shaffer, pastor of St. Joseph Parish, Toms River, led an opening prayer service in which all branches of the military were represented. Parish youth ministry members, Donovan Catholic High School students, the R.O.T.C. Club of Toms River’s High School North, military veterans and more all prayed together for the souls of those who fought for freedom.
As the attendees fell silent under the dome of dark skies, a veteran with the U.S. Marine Corps Color Guard slowly placed a trumpet to his lips. The sound of TAPS – that song of remembrance that immediately recalls the pain of loss, dignity of life and price of freedom – pierced the air, which was heavy with emotion.
At the conclusion of the prayer service, participants, family members and volunteers made their way through the field of tombstones, laying the wreaths on graves of U.S. servicemen and women.