By Esteban Fernandez
Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT — As the first snowflakes of a major storm began to descend, veterans and active duty soldiers like Maj. Johnny Kocher stood contemplating the sacrifices made by those before him who now rest at Maple Grove Cemetery.
“It’s humbling for people who are actively serving,” Kocher, executive officer of the West Virginia 201st Field Artillery Regiment, said Dec. 13. “We all have our different motivations for serving, but I’d like to think that most of us, all have to some degree, pride in the uniform for serving the country for doing what we do. When you’re here and see all the people that came before us, that have served in the nation’s conflicts and all the different branches of service, it’s just humbling for us to be able to give back.”
Wreathes Across America took place at Maple Grove Cemetery on Dec. 13, part of a now-worldwide celebration that ensures lost soldiers are remembered during the holidays. Maple Grove is unique in that while it is not a national cemetery, the cemetery is still given the privilege of honoring its veterans with the yearly ceremony. The cemetery is the final resting place for veterans stretching all way to the American Revolution.
Kocher said Americans owe everything to the willingness of individuals who step up and serve, so remembering what they’ve done throughout the decades is important. This year, 150 people attended the ceremony to do just that, Wreaths Across America Coordinator Marcella Yaremchuk said, who organizes the ceremony every year. Maple Grove holds the graves of 345 veterans. After the ceremony ended, attendees fanned out with wreaths and placed them on the graves of all the servicemembers. Yaremchuk said it’s important to appreciate veterans.
County Commissioner Linda Longstreth, who is a veteran herself, put it another way.
“Remember, we are not here today to ‘decorate graves,’” she said. “We are here to remember not their deaths but their lives. Each wreath is a gift of appreciation from a grateful America.”
James Wilke, cub master for Pack 120, watched his daughter lay a wreath at the headstone of a veteran and salute. Wilke is also a major in the West Virginia National Guard and in charge of the Fairmont Armory. Cub Scouts worked diligently across the cemetery, laying a wreath wherever a flag stood lonely vigil next to the grave of a veteran. For Wilke and his daughter, it was a special moment.
“To bring my daughter out here and see her be engaged in something that I believe is important — and she does it of her own free will, I’m not dragging her out in the cold and wet,” he said. “She wanted to come today, so that’s really nice.”
Wilke said having a little bit of selfless service is very important, especially teaching it to the younger generation because a lot of community service is lost in the world of technology, where individuals become self centered and don’t sit and engage in their communities.
The ceremony took on an additional meaning this year, with the death of National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom and the hospitalization of fellow Guard member Andrew Wolfe. An assailant shot both soldiers in Washington, D.C. Wilke said the loss of Beckstrom and Wolfe’s injury brought some additional melancholy to the ceremony this year.
Yaremchuk said it was important to keep doing the ceremony every year.
“We need to remind people that we appreciate veterans,” she said. “We can’t let patriotism die.”
See more from the Times West Virginian