ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, Va. (Dec. 15) -- More than 100 volunteers from Marine Corps Base Quantico and the surrounding communities showed their support for the United States Armed Forces past and present by laying wreaths upon tombstones at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday.
More than 110,000 wreaths were provided by Wreaths Across America in hundreds of boxes loaded on trucks throughout the cemetery.
Over the past 21 years the organization has donated more than 1.2 million wreaths to honor America's fallen.
“It went really well,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Andrew Boehmer, a corpsman with the Wounded Warrior Regiment. “A lot more people showed up than I thought would.”
Among the volunteers were more than 30 lieutenants from Alpha Co., The Basic School, three small contingents of Marines from Marine Embassy Security Group, Combat Instructor Company, and Combat Service Support.
“It was eye opening,” said Boehmer. “I got to see that a lot of people care enough to come out and help lay wreaths.”
Petty Officer 2nd Class Stephen McCloy, a religious specialist with the Wounded Warrior Regiment, led the group to cemetery Sections 59 and 60, where they laid their wreaths.
“I believe this event was a success,” McCloy said. “There was a lot of participation from the community which is a great thing to see.”
Correspondent: Paris.Capers@usmc.mil