Volunteers will decorate veterans’ graves at local cemeteries

In 2011, Wreaths Across America volunteers laid 325,000 remembrance wreaths at 750 locations in the U.S. and beyond. Locally, organizations laid 500 wreaths in 13 cemeteries.

While the Fort Sill National Cemetery, the Post Cemetery and Highland Cemetery displayed the most wreaths, the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association laid wreaths at Pecan, Flower Mound, Letitia, Marlow and Duncan. More volunteers and family members laid wreaths at Sunset Memorial Gardens, Cache, Comanche, Apache and even Oklahoma City cemeteries.

This year the Wreaths Across America-participating organizations are selling sponsorships and raising funds to provide more wreaths throughout Comanche County. To help in this endeavor, Comanche County Veterans Council undertook an effort in May 2011 to identify veterans buried in Comanche County. The public response was overwhelming, resulting in the identification of an additional 400 veterans buried in the county.

The current roster contains more than 10,300 veterans from the Civil War through today. Comanche County Veterans Council continues to take additions to the roster each month.

Without a doubt the Fort Sill Post and the Fort Sill National Cemeteries contain most of the veterans in Comanche County, Comanche County Veterans Council President Dale Scott said. But there are almost 1,400 veterans buried in Highland, 1,210-plus in Sunset Memorial Gardens, about 200 in Cache, around 300 in Fletcher, almost 150 in Sterling and even three in the Meers Cemetery. There are more than Fun250 veterans buried in Kiowa-Comanche-Apache and other Native American Cemeteries within the county as well. Many Civil War veterans are also buried in Allendale, Chattanooga, Faxon, Sterling, Mountain View, Flower Mound, Letitia, Pecan and other locations throughout Comanche County.

Wreaths Across America responds to the question: "Why spend money on the fallen when living veterans have so many needs?"

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