Hundreds of thousands of wreaths are making their way from Maine to Virginia as part of the Wreaths Across America program.
The caravan stopped at the New Jersey Veterans Memorial in Holmdel on Wednesday. The convoy consisted of 14 tractor-trailers, along with military veterans and police officers. This year’s stop featured guests from all over the Garden State – including groups from Point Pleasant, the Wall High School ROTC and 23 Gold Star families.
"When they come here they are honoring all the 1,564 people that are on this wall and all the New Jerseyans who died in Vietnam,” says Vietnam Veterans' Memorial vice chair Nicholas Asselta. “To us, it's a special day. We welcome this every year, and we look forward next year to having them back.”
"We owe everything that we enjoy in this country to our veterans and if we don't remember them and honor them, shame on us,” says Mel Russen, Jr., of Wreaths Across America.
The convoy will end at Arlington National Ceremony on Saturday. This year the organization is on track to deliver more than 3 million wreaths to veterans' gravesites at 4,200 locations throughout the United States.