2,400 veterans’ graves at Salt Lake Cemetery to get wreaths

SALT LAKE CITY — Veterans’ graves in Salt Lake City, Taylorsville and Tonaquint will be decorated with holiday wreaths this Saturday as part of the Wreaths Across America movement. 

Robin Gochnour, who has helped organize the event in Utah for the past several years, said laying wreaths ensures those who served our country are not forgotten. 

“There’s always been a saying that a soldier dies twice, once at the time of death and once when they’re forgotten,” she said. “So by repeating their name as you lay the wreath, that ensures that specific service person, man or woman, is never forgotten.” 

The Wreaths Across America flag ceremony starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the Salt Lake Cemetery.

Then, volunteers will spread out across more than 2,400 veteran’s graves to place wreaths on each one. 

Taylorsville will have a ceremony at 10 a.m. at City Hall and move to the cemetery at 11 a.m. There’s also a ceremony at the Tonaquint Cemetary near St. George starting at 10 a.m. 

Ceremonies expand past the state of Utah. Rick Crombie lives in Reno, Nevada, and plans to attend the event at the Veterans Cemetery in Fernley, Nevada. 

“My own son is buried in Arlington National Cemetery… I know there’s a wreath being placed there on December 16,” Crombie told KSL NewsRadio. 

According to the Wreaths Across America webpage, the wreath-laying ceremony is held in more than 3,000 local communities every December. 

Related reading:

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• How the PACT Act supports Utah veterans since approval