Norwich to host Wreaths Across America ceremony honoring service and sacrifice

On Saturday, Dec. 6, at 1 p.m., the Norwich University Cemetery will once again serve as a place of remembrance and gratitude as members of the Norwich and Central Vermont communities gather to participate in Wreaths Across America, a tribute dedicated to honoring America’s veterans and their families.

"American Legion Post 1819 (Norwich University) is honored and excited to partner with the Norwich University Cemetery Association and sponsor the inaugural Wreaths Across America service and wreath laying at the Norwich University Cemetery,” said Post 1819 Commander Brett Nelson. “For a couple years our post has been a conduit for sponsoring Wreaths Across America wreaths and during that time we've advocated for the adoption of the Norwich University Cemetery as a Wreaths Across America site. We're grateful to see that work come to fruition and privileged to participate in the ceremony." 

Each December, millions of volunteers across the nation and abroad take part in this solemn observance, laying wreaths on the graves of those who served and speaking their names aloud in an enduring act of remembrance. The gesture is simple but profound as each wreath placed carries with it a promise that the service and sacrifice of America’s veterans will never be forgotten.

A National Mission of Remembrance 

Founded with the mission to Remember, Honor, and Teach, Wreaths Across America has grown into one of the nation’s most heartfelt movements of civic gratitude. The organization’s impact stretches far beyond a single day in December. Its volunteers and supporters work year-round to ensure that every headstone bearing the name of a service member is recognized, honored, and remembered.

In 2024, Wreaths Across America volunteers placed more than three million sponsored wreaths at 4,909 participating locations worldwide, each one symbolizing a story of courage, service, and love of country.

Joshua Byers was the company commander of Fox Troop in the 2/3ACR service in Iraq in 2003 when an IED struck his Humvee. As smoke filled the air, Josh gave his driver a last command: “… keep moving forward.” Though Josh did not make it home, this command saved lives and became a battle cry for his unit and his family.

The organization’s 2025 theme — “Keep Moving Forward” — reminds participants that remembrance and service are active, ongoing responsibilities.

“There will always be challenges to overcome as individuals, communities and a country, but we must keep moving forward together,” said Karen Worcester, executive director of Wreaths Across America. “This year, we will share not only the Byers’ story of resilience but also the stories of many others who continue to live with purpose every day and have chosen to keep moving forward.”

An Act of Service, A Legacy of Honor

For Norwich University, the oldest private military college in America, Wreaths Across America reflects the very essence of its mission. The University’s own cemetery is the final resting place of alumni and veterans who exemplified Norwich’s enduring values of service before self and leadership through action.

This December, Norwich students, alumni, faculty, staff, and local residents will gather among the snow-dusted headstones of the campus cemetery to lay wreaths and reflect on the generations of Norwich graduates who served in uniform. It will be a quiet moment of connection between past and present, between words and deeds, between gratitude and service.

To participate is to take part in something larger than a ceremony. It is an act of citizenship, a reaffirmation of the promise that Norwich and its community will always honor those who served.
A Tradition of Reflection and Renewal 

The laying of wreaths, like the lowering of flags or the sounding of “Taps,” speaks a universal language of respect. Yet the true impact of Wreaths Across America is not only in the act of remembrance but in what it teaches.

Each volunteer, whether student, veteran, or community member, walks away with a renewed understanding of what it means to serve something greater than oneself. By saying the names of those who came before, participants remind the living that freedom endures because of sacrifice and that the duty to preserve it belongs to all.

The “Keep Moving Forward” theme underscores that message. It challenges communities to honor the fallen not by standing still in grief, but by continuing the work they began through acts of service, learning, and leadership.

Continuing the Mission

Since its founding, Norwich University has stood as a place where remembrance and action meet. From the earliest days of the citizen-soldier tradition to the modern classrooms preparing cybersecurity specialists, engineers, and military officers, Norwich’s purpose aligns closely with the mission of Wreaths Across America: to honor the past while shaping a stronger, more service-oriented future.

As participants gather at the Norwich University Cemetery this December, they will do so not merely to lay wreaths, but to renew a promise to carry forward the values that define both Norwich and the nation it serves.

All members of the Norwich and central Vermont communities are welcome to join the Wreaths Across America ceremony at Norwich University Cemetery on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 1 p.m.
Each attendee and every sponsorship represent a meaningful act of remembrance helping ensure that every veteran resting at the Norwich University Cemetery, and across the nation, is honored with a wreath and a promise their service will never be forgotten. To learn more about the event, register to attend (optional), sponsor wreaths, or explore ways to participate in this year’s observance, simply scan the QR code to access the Norwich University Wreaths Across America page. 

Through the quiet act of placing a wreath and speaking a veteran’s name, each participant becomes part of a living tradition, a movement that continues to remind every American to remember, honor, and teach.