HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The annual "National Wreaths Across America Day" brought volunteers together to lay wreaths on graves of Veterans, Saturday morning.
This display is now present at Arlington National Cemetery as well as thousands of locations across the country, including Huntsville's Valhalla Memory Gardens.
Alivia Eggleston, volunteered in Huntsville this year because, "we have a very close friend. He is buried here and he was a Veteran. And so…it just means a lot that we can come out here…to just support families knowing that their loved ones are gone and just show them that we respect that and we're here for them."
She is one of the many volunteers who took part in laying down wreaths at Valhalla Memory Gardens.
This community gathering was led by Northrop Grumman's VERITAS employee resource group along with other local companies like Dynetics, Lockheed Martin and System High, giving an opportunity for people to remember and honor fallen Veterans.
Bob McCaleb, Corporate Lead Executive for Northrop Grumman in Huntsville, shared, "it really is a timely and thoughtful event around the holidays where as a former military army person, myself, we typically save a place for people who are serving that are not present at our holiday tables to honor them and... we're kind of doing the same here."
Christine Harbison, Defense Systems Sector Vice President and General Manager of the Combat Systems and Mission Readiness division for Northrop Grumman in Huntsville added, "we go up to the graves...we want to ensure that we read who they are, usually has their ranks on there and what war if they served in...or what service that they served in. And thinking about that and honoring that and then putting the wreath down."
And for many of the volunteers there's a special connection.
"My husband served. He is a retired Army Officer and my son is a current Army Officer. So…if you talk to many people here, there's that aspect that it's a piece of their world as well," Harbison said.
For Eggleston, it's honoring her family friend.
"We actually started calling him Uncle Jim because it was just like one of those relationships that is not through blood, but it felt like it…we come out here, not just on this day to put wreaths across there, but we come out here just to remember him and his legacy that he left," Eggleston said.
These volunteers ensure that every fallen Veteran is recognized.
"If they were buried here, if they don't have any family left or their family can't make it here because of certain situations, it's just good to speak their name out just to let them know that somebody is here," Eggleston said.
Approximately 800 wreaths were donated by local employees for National Wreaths Across America Day.