‘They are remembered’
Published 5:25 am Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Teresa Ellis places a wreath on the grave of a veteran, Saturday, Dec. 14, at Duck River Cemetery. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
David, center, and Nina, back right, Ellis — both retired U.S. Army veterans — gather with volunteers Saturday, Dec. 14, at Duck River Cemetery to place wreaths on the graves of veterans. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
A wreath rests on the headstone of Navy Seaman, Roy Lewis Glasscock, Saturday, Dec. 14, at Duck River Cemetery. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
A wreath rests on the headstone of PFC James Ray Burns, Saturday, Dec. 14, at Duck River Cemetery. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Caleb Elrod, pastor of Duck River Baptist Church leads a prayer prior to the placing of wreaths on the graves of veterans in the church cemetery, Saturday, Dec. 14. David Ellis, one of the event's organizers is at right. Parkside Elementary students, where Elrod is principal, volunteered to place wreaths during the ceremony. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Geraldine Farr at the grave of husband, Danny Farr, Saturday, Dec. 14 at Duck River Cemetery. Amanda Shavers | The Cullman Times
Veterans gather at Cullman City Cemetery for the annual Wreaths Across America ceremony Saturday, December 14, 2024 Photo courtesy Dripping Springs Chapter NSDAR
Veterans gather at Cullman City Cemetery for the annual Wreaths Across America ceremony Saturday, December 14, 2024 Photo courtesy Dripping Springs Chapter NSDAR
Wreaths Across America program honors those who served
In 1944, the night before Christmas, 2nd Lt. Richard Wellbrock wrote to his wife Mary and their two-year-old son Kent from a POW camp 20 miles outside of Munich, Germany.
“If ever I’ve needed you, I do now. I’ve such a lost feeling and [am] bluer than I have ever been in my life…’Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men’ is hard for me to visualize. I only hope this bitterness will fade,” he wrote
Wellbrock made it home in time to spend the following Christmas with his family after the camp was liberated in April 1945, but said he had “seen too many sights and men’s souls to ever be quite the same.”
Wellbrock held no known connection to Cullman County, but David and Nina Ellis — both retired U.S. Army veterans — know all too well that his experiences are not unique to the thousands of service men and women forced to spend the holidays away from their families each year. It is why they have taken time this holiday season to honor local veterans who have passed away by placing wreaths at their headstones.
“Veterans take care of veterans,” David said. “That’s why I do this.”
David Ellis was raised in a military family — his father served in the Army during the Korean War — and he became familiar with Wreaths Across America while he and Nina were living in Texas after retiring from the military. He regularly purchased a few wreaths each year. However, this year was the first time he organized a large-scale wreath laying ceremony to honor nearly 200 veterans at Duck River Baptist Church cemetery Saturday, Dec. 14, to carry on a tradition started by his late friend Danny Farr.
Since its official formation in 2007, Wreaths Across America has laid millions of wreaths on the graves of veterans in thousands of locations throughout the U.S. and France. In 2023 alone, more than 3 million wreaths were placed in 4,200 locations. This year marks the first time Duck River Baptist has joined the list of nearly 5,000 locations with an official wreath laying ceremony, but Farr’s daughter Anita said he had been growing the tradition for several years before he passed away last year.
“Dad loved RFD-TV [Rural Free Delivery Television] and he saw some episode talking about Wreaths Across America and how it started with just one family providing all of the wreaths for Arlington National Cemetery. They had a number to call if you wanted to learn more and Dad actually called and talked to them about it,” Anita said.
Farr began asking members of Duck River Baptist and the VFW if they would like to purchase wreaths for their family members. Word began to spread about his efforts and the number of wreaths being ordered each year began to increase.
When the Ellis’ moved back to Nina’s hometown of Holly Pond and began attending Duck River, they became close friends with Farr and wanted to continue what he had started this year.
“We just wanted to carry on Danny’s legacy. He was a very good man. He was big in the church and different veterans’ organizations. We just wanted to continue what he had started,” Nina said.
David was able to get around 50 wreaths last year, but he began taking orders for wreaths shortly after the church’s Decoration Day and began cleaning off footplates in the cemetery in September.
On Dec. 14, for the first time, a wreath was placed on each of the 200 veterans buried at Duck River going all the way back to the Civil War.
“It doesn’t matter where they served or whether or not they were in a war. It is my belief that a veteran is a veteran and they all deserve a wreath on their grave,” David said.
During the ceremony, before volunteers place a wreath on a grave, Anita said they pause and speak the name of the veteran as a way to continue their legacy.
“When you place the wreath WAA recommends that you stop and say their name out loud so that they are remembered and you make an acknowledgement of their sacrifice.” Anita said. “Because they are people and you recognize that they aren’t just a number, but a real person with lives and families. It becomes personal when you say the name out loud.
Anita said she has always carried a deep level of respect for the sacrifices veterans have made for their country. In addition to her father’s service in Vietnam, she has traced her ancestry back to participants in the American Revolution and is a member, along with her mother, of the Dripping Springs chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution.
She has made it a point to honor her family members by decorating their graves for Christmas and Decoration each year.
But, she said the tradition has become more emotional and reverent since her father’s passing and has become a recipient of the tradition he started.
“We don’t stand alone. It’s important to remember that we are standing on the shoulders of those who came before us. We have the freedoms we have now because of the sacrifices these men and women have made,” she said. “A family had to sacrifice because of a belief they had in our country so for us, it’s a way to honor that sacrifice and to tell them they are remembered and that we appreciate them.”
Patrick Camp can be reached at pcamp@cullmantimes.com or by phone at 256-734-2131 ext. 238.
