Honoring those who have served

Having helped coordinate the delivery and placement of wreaths at the cemetery for some five years, Kevin Graves said seeing volunteers place wreaths at the grave sites of thousands of veterans is nothing short of amazing. Though his grandparents are buried there, it wasn’t until the Discovery Bay resident’s son Spc. Joseph Graves was interred there after he was killed in Iraq in 2006 that Graves felt he became part of the community surrounding the cemetery.

By taking the time to read veterans’ names and place a wreath next to their headstones, Graves said the volunteers set to place the thousands of wreaths at the headstones of fallen veterans Saturday morning may be giving them and their families the only honor and recognition they have received in a while.

“What’s important is each hero gets honored,” he said. “And all the families get to understand they’re part of a bigger thing here.”

Kathy McCall, director of the cemetery with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, said the effort has sparked a strong showing of support from volunteers across the community since it began in the Golden Gate National Cemetery and the San Francisco National Cemetery in 2006. Included among them Friday were the San Bruno Police Department and the motorcycle escort groups who accompanied the trucks into the cemetery, said McCall, who added community groups, Boy Scouts and students from nearby schools will also help place and pick up the wreaths in the coming weeks.

“It’s a great opportunity to remember those who served our country,” she said. “There are so many volunteers all over the country who’ve really embraced this effort.”

With some 113,000 grave sites in the cemetery, McCall said each year volunteers place wreaths in a new section of the cemetery so they will eventually have honored each veteran.

As part of the American Legion Riders, San Mateo resident and U.S. Marine Corps veteran George Smith was among the motorcyclists who escorted the trucks from Pleasanton to the cemetery Friday morning. He said members of his group joined the Patriot Guard Riders, the Warriors’ Watch Riders and the Golden Gate Chapter of the Harley Owners Group to form a group of 20 leading the way for the trucks full of wreaths. Just as the motorcycle escort assembled Friday was comprised of veterans and those hoping to honor those who have served, the support for the effort from a wide array of community members struck Smith as very meaningful.

“Just to have people come out and participate in honoring our fallen veterans who have gone before us, it means a lot,” he said.

Dan Olmstead said he woke up around 1:30 a.m. Friday to drive one of the two trucks from Red Bluff to Pleasanton, where they met the motorcycles on their way to the cemetery, a total distance of nearly 200 miles. Having worked as a Walmart truck driver for more than 23 years, Olmstead expressed gratitude for the opportunity to honor his stepson Spc. Nicholas Brian Burley, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2013.

Though he’s driven trucks for Walmart’s Wreaths Across America effort for several years, Olmstead said meeting the motorcycle escort and driving into the cemetery was a first for him.

“I’m not an emotional guy, but it hit me pretty hard coming in with those guys,” he said.

A ceremony will be 8:45 a.m. Dec. 15 with guest speaker Col. Jon Ellis and the laying of wreaths in recognition of each branch of service at the Golden Gate National Cemetery, 1300 Sneath Lane in San Bruno.

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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