Wreaths were laid at Rochester and area cemeteries. 7:00 am, Dec. 20, 2020 ×
Civil Air Patrol Cadet Chief Master Sgt. Joseph Meyer lays a wreath on a veterans grave as part of Wreaths Across America Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020, at Oakwood Cemetery in Rochester. (Joe Ahlquist / jahlquist@postbulletin.com)
The cadet laid a wreath near the gravestone, took two steps back and saluted.
The ritual only lasted a dozen seconds or so. And then the cadet was off to the next gravesite. But in that brief moment, a long-dead service member, whose memory perhaps had long been extinguished and forgotten, was honored. It s a sense of respect and pride you have for these veterans and what they ve done for our country, said Richard Sylak III, a cadet in the Southeast Minnesota Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol and a student at Zumbrota-Mazeppa High School.