FORT WALTON BEACH In the crisp air of a sun-splashed Saturday morning, volunteers spread silently across the grounds of Beal Memorial Cemetery to lay wreaths at the graves of the more than 1,700 veterans buried there.
The morning marked the inaugural year for local participation in Wreaths Across America, an initiative to honor and remember the nation s military veterans.
Wreaths Across America traces its beginnings to 1992, when volunteers placed a truckload of wreaths donated by Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, Maine, on graves at Arlington National Cemetery. From there, Wreaths Across America has become a nonprofit organization that also teaches school, scout, civic and other groups about American veterans.