Veterans in Mt. Hope Cemetery to be remembered with wreaths on Dec. 17

On Saturday, Dec. 17, National Wreaths Across America Day, the Webb City community will come together at Mt. Hope Cemetery. Led by local organizer Susie Crutcher, individuals, organizations, and businesses sponsored enough wreaths to decorate the grave of each of the 1,100 veterans resting in the cemetery.

At 10 a.m. a CFI truck will deliver boxes of wreaths to Mt. Hope, where they will be offloaded and placed throughout the 49 acres of the cemetery with the help of the Webb City High School JROTC cadets and volunteers from Peterson Outdoors.

At 11:00 a.m. a brief and honorable ceremony will take place under the direction of Lt. Col. Dustin Elder at the Veterans Memorial Wall, located at the north end of the cemetery. The Webb City JROTC will serve as the honor guard and with Scouts from Troop 25 will respectfully lay a wreath at each of the memorial pillars honoring veterans of the Navy, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marine Corps. Mayor Lynn Ragsdale will offer a few words of support for all veterans, after which American Legion Post 13 will offer a gun salute, followed by “Taps” and a moment of silence.

Family members and volunteers will then disperse throughout the cemetery to lay a wreath on the grave of each veteran and speak his or her name out loud.

The public is welcome to honor our Veterans and then enjoy a cup of coffee and a donut served by the Webb City Historical Society under the pavilion at the Veterans Wall.

The society is honoring the Donughnut Girls and Donut Dollies and the soldiers they served overseas during World War I and World War II. “Donut Girls” were Salvation Army ensigns who served up donuts to soldiers beginning in World War I. In December 1944 it was reported that 205 Red Cross Donut Dollies in Great Britain alone served 4,659,728 doughnuts to the troops.