Student Driver Placement

November 2015

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Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. As their work continued they were able to include more trucking companies and organizations to help them get their growing "surplus" of wreaths to Arlington. Then in 2005, a photo of the grass at Arlington cov- ered in snow and proudly showing off newly laid live evergreen wreaths with a red ribbon leaning against the headstone hit the internet. That photo went viral and suddenly Morrill had a national project on his hands. There were thousands of people wanting to help the Worcester family with their work at Arlington National Cemetery, tell them their stories and fi nd out how they could get wreaths in their hometown cemetery for vet- erans buried there. You see, when America is given the opportunity to express their respect and honor for our fallen veterans, they jump on the bandwagon to help. The Worcesters were donat- ing their surplus wreaths and all of a sudden there were requests for thousands and thousands of wreaths from around the country. The Worcesters were unable to do- nate all those wreaths but soon were able to create a solution to the na- tion's desire to honor our veterans. Wreaths Across America, a nonprofi t organization, was formed to expand the wreath laying and garner support from other groups and organizations around the country with the same goal - honor our veterans. This past December 13, 2014 I attended the annual Wreaths Across America event in Washington DC and was part of the approximately 50,000 volunteers there that day. It was the 150th Anniversary of Arlington National Cemetery and all volunteers helped place a wreath on each headstone in the cemetery that day, a total of 230,000 wreaths. The weather was cool, not cold, and the sun was bright with no wind, making a perfect day to lay the wreaths. I saw parents with small children as well elderly parents with their adult children and grandchildren placing wreaths. There were thou- sands of veterans there that day, wearing uniforms, hats or just coats showing their branch of the service. Some of us had only friends in Ar- lington, but others had family. I have never seen so much respect and honor in one day in my life. People were friendly and kind as well as warm and helpful all that day. My own story is this; I picked up my wreath from the back of an 18-wheel truck, walked to a sec- tion where there were not many wreaths and found a marker that I swear was calling my name. I went over and look down at the marker for Sergeant Major Bernard Slocum III, US Marine Corps who served in Vietnam. For guys my age, Vietnam was our war. It is where we lost our 12 www.studentdriverplacement.com November '15 Trucking Law

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