Since 2020 we have partaken of the program Wreaths Across America, which seeks to lay a Christmas wreath at each and every veteran's gravesite, to honor their sacrifices, respect the present men and women who have taken their place in service to their country, and to educate future generations that Freedom is not Free, and is paid with the sacrifice of men and women, who each do their part to protect and defend our nation 'against all enemies, foreign and domestic'. We have been sponsors and volunteers, buying their wreaths and laying them at our veteran's graves, some known and others not... whether they died standing their posts or of old age after doing so, but have paid for our freedoms (or at least those we used to have before BIDEN started taking them away and giving them to our enemies) with their service and their lives.
It was on December 19, 2020 when we were last at the Florida National Cemetery, because that was the last time we were here (in The Villages) on the WAA Day, as can be seen in our website here (www.roughingitgently.com). Other years we do it at veteran's in whatever major cemetery is nearby. Sadly, however, while the program (the idea) has always been a wonderful program, lately the program's organization (www.wreathsacrossamerica.com) has deteriorated to the point that we will no longer support or volunteer for them. The way it has always worked is that the company (WAA) makes the wreaths at their wreath manufacturing company in CT. Supporters, like us and other private citizens, as well as major businesses, buy wreaths (currently $17.00 each) and major trucking companies volunteer trucks to ship them to National (VA) Cemeteries across the US.
As you read this, over 700 trucks have traveled to and from Maine to ensure the delivery of sponsored veterans' wreaths. All those miles, over 1 million, are donated by trucking companies. Another moving revelation comes from drivers who realize their actual cargo is not only wreaths but really honor and respect for our fallen heroes. For that reason, they work with these drivers to safely load their trucks with as many wreaths as possible. Below is a list of the many companies in the trucking industry that donate their trucks and drivers to deliver all the wreaths. Then, at each National Cemetery, they deliver the purchased wreaths to the people who have purchased them and to the cemetery all the excess wreaths that have been donated. Volunteers, like us, will take the wreaths (after laying the ones we purchased on our own loved ones' gravesites) and lay them on other service members graves.
2022 Honor Fleet
J.B. Hunt - 42 Loads
Walmart Transportation - 19 Loads
Prime Inc. - 10 Loads
Ashley Distribution Services - 7 Loads
Leonard's Express - 7 Loads
Perdue Transportation Inc. - 7 Loads
Bennett Motor Express LLC - 6 Loads
Brown Dog Carriers - 5 Loads
E. W. Wylie - 5 Loads
Harris Teeter - 5 Loads
Interstate Van Lines - 5 Loads
Knight Transportation - 5 Loads
Load One, LLC - 5 Loads
Saia - 5 Loads
Sharp Transportation Inc - 5 Loads
Cargo Transporters - 4 Loads
Central Transport - 4 Loads
CFI - 4 Loads
DB Schenker - 4 Loads
Dutch Maid Logistics - 4 Loads
Hirschbach Motor Lines - 4 Loads
Koleasco, Inc. - 4 Loads
Schneider - 4 Loads
Sheetz - 4 Loads
Swift Transportation - 4 Loads
TLD Logistics Services - 4 Loads
Ace Relocation Systems, Inc - 3 Loads
America's Service Line, LLC - 3 Loads
Baylor Trucking - 3 Loads
CEVA - 3 Loads
Classic Carriers - 3 Loads
Clean Harbor - 3 Loads
Covenant Transport - 3 Loads
Cowan Systems - 3 Loads
Dart Transit - 3 Loads
Freymiller - 3 Loads
Gully Transportation - 3 Loads
Hampton Road Moving & Storage - 3 Loads
Heartland Express - 3 Loads
Liberty Moving & Storage, Inc - 3 Loads
Matrix Expedited Service - 3 Loads
Mohawk Carpet Transportation of Georgia - 3 Loads
National Carriers - 3 Loads
TA Dedicated - 3 Loads
VIPTransport, Inc. - 3 Loads
Walter P Rawl and Sons - 3 Loads
WEL Companies - 3 Loads
A. Duie Pyle - 2 Loads
Abilene Motor Express - 2 Loads
Alabama Motor Express Inc - 2 Loads
Aladdin's Logistics LLC - 2 Loads
American Central Transport, Inc. - 2 Loads
Bay & Bay - 2 Loads
Big G Express - 2 Loads
Big M Transportation - 2 Loads
Bison Transport, USA - 2 Loads
Boyd Brothers - 2 Loads
Brakebush Transportation Inc - 2 Loads
Brown Trucking Company - 2 Loads
Buchheit Logistics - 2 Loads
Budd Van Lines - 2 Loads
C.R. England - 2 Loads
Central State Manufacturing Inc - 2 Loads
Christenson Transportation - 2 Loads
D. M. Bowman Inc. - 2 Loads
Don Hummer Trucking - 2 Loads
Epes Transport System LLC - 2 Loads
Estes Express Lines - 2 Loads
Everhart Trucking Inc. - 2 Loads
First Class Moving Systems, Inc - 2 Loads
Fortune Transportation - 2 Loads
Foster Hill Transport,LLC - 2 Loads
Fremont Contract Carriers - 2 Loads
Garner Trucking - 2 Loads
Grand Island Express - 2 Loads
H.O. Wolding, Inc. DBA Bison Transport USA - 2 Loads
Halvor Lines - 2 Loads
Heritage Transport - 2 Loads
Hermann Services, Inc. - 2 Loads
High Transit - 2 Loads
Hobby Lobby Stores - 2 Loads
J & M Tank Lines - 2 Loads
Jagtrux - 2 Loads
Jetco Delivery - 2 Loads
Kennesaw Transportation - 2 Loads
Load to Ride Transportation INC - 2 Loads
Lone Star Transportation - 2 Loads
McCollisters Transportation Systems - 2 Loads
Meijer - 2 Loads
NAPA Transportation, Inc. - 2 Loads
New World Van - 2 Loads
Paschall Truck Lines - 2 Loads
Pottle's Transportation - 2 Loads
R.C. Moore, Inc. - 2 Loads
Raider Express - 2 Loads
RCS Trucking & Freight INC - 2 Loads
RT Relocation - 2 Loads
Senergy Petroeleum - 2 Loads
Sherwin-Williams Company-NE - 2 Loads
Smith Transport Inc. - 2 Loads
Smokey Point Distributing - 2 Loads
Stevens Transport - 2 Loads
Sugar Foods - 2 Loads
Sun Coast Resources - 2 Loads
Total Transportation Of Mississippi - 2 Loads
Transland - 2 Loads
Tri-State Motor Transit Co - 2 Loads
Tribe Transportation - 2 Loads
Try Hours, Inc. - 2 Loads
U.S. Xpress, Inc. - 2 Loads
Walgreens - 2 Loads
Waste Masters Solutions - 2 Loads
Witte Bros Exchange - 2 Loads
4 D's Trucking - 1 Load
AAA Cooper - 1 Load
Allen Lund Company - 1 Load
Allied Van Lines- Justin Schott - 1 Load
Altom Transport - 1 Load
American Trucking Association - Workforce Heroes - 1 Load
Armellini Express Lines, Inc. - 1 Load
Arrive Logistics - 1 Load
B and L Transport - 1 Load
Baggett Transportation/MSR Transport Services, Inc - 1 Load
Barnes Transportation - 1 Load
Bison Transport USA - Amherst Terminal (HO Wolding) - 1 Load
Blue Eyes Transportation LLC - 1 Load
Boyd Grain Inc. - 1 Load
Brousseau-Nee Moving Services LLC - 1 Load
C & L Transport, Inc. - 1 Load
Calliope LLC - 1 Load
Carlyle Van Lines - 1 Load
Carter Express - 1 Load
Central Oregon Truck Company Inc - 1 Load
Chambers Transportation - 1 Load
Chief Industries - 1 Load
Coleman World Wide Moving - 1 Load
Continental Express - 1 Load
Convoy Systems Llc - 1 Load
Cornerstone Moving & Storage LLC - 1 Load
Crum Trucking - 1 Load
Daley & Wanzer Inc. - 1 Load
Dallas Moving & Storage, LLC - (Austin-Said, LLC) - 1 Load
Denney Transport - 1 Load
Dewitt Transportation Services of Guam - 1 Load
Diamond Transportation System, Inc. - 1 Load
Do It Best Corp/Transervice Logistics - 1 Load
Exodus Moving and Storage - 1 Load
Exxact Express, Inc - 1 Load
Forward Air - 1 Load
Godfrey Trucking - 1 Load
Golden Services, LLC - 1 Load
Hammond Lumber Company - 1 Load
Harry Ball Trucking - 1 Load
Hill Brother's Transportation - 1 Load
Hoekstra Transportation, LLC - 1 Load
Hogan Transportation - 1 Load
International Paper Co - 1 Load
John Baxter Trucking - 1 Load
John Christner Trucking - 1 Load
JR Kays Trucking Inc - 1 Load
JT logistics - 1 Load
KLLM - 1 Load
Koch Trucking - 1 Load
Larry J Bischoff Trucking LLC - 1 Load
Lippincott Van Lines - 1 Load
Long Haul Trucking - 1 Load
Lynch Logistics - 1 Load
M&M Transport Services - 1 Load
Magnum LTD - 1 Load
Main Street Movers - 1 Load
Mast Trucking Inc - 1 Load
Matson Navigation Company Inc. - 1 Load
Motor Carrier Service - 1 Load
N.C Hunt Inc. - 1 Load
National Van Lines, Inc - 1 Load
Pacific Transfer - 1 Load
Paper Transport,Inc - 1 Load
Patriot Tank Lines Inc. - 1 Load
Pedro Cantu-Saracusa Moving & Storage - 1 Load
Pepsi Bottling Ventures - 1 Load
Peters Trucking - 1 Load
Pilot Travel Centers LLC - 1 Load
Purdy Brothers Trucking - 1 Load
Quality Carriers - 1 Load
Quality Life Science Transportation - 1 Load
Quality Transport Company - 1 Load
R.F. Chamberland, Inc. - 1 Load
Ralph Moyle, Inc. - 1 Load
Regency Transportation - 1 Load
Reliable Carriers Inc. - 1 Load
Reliable Carriers-Carl Wallin - 1 Load
Ross Neely - 1 Load
S & S Transport Inc. - 1 Load
Schneider-Women In Trucking - 1 Load
Sebago Signworks - 1 Load
Simon Transport - 1 Load
Slidell Moving (Dba Fisk Enterprises Inc) - 1 Load
Soar Transportation Group - 1 Load
Sourdough Express - 1 Load
South Hill Movers - 1 Load
Southwest Truck Driver Training, Inc. - 1 Load
Specialized Transportation Solutions - 1 Load
SS Chad Express - 1 Load
Stallion Transportation Group - 1 Load
Stone Belt Freight Lines - 1 Load
Sunstate Carriers, Inc. - 1 Load
Taylor Truck Line - 1 Load
TForce Freight - 1 Load
Thomas E Keller Trucking - 1 Load
Titan Transfer, Inc. - 1 Load
Town And Country Movers - 1 Load
Trailer Bridge - 1 Load
Trailer Transit - 1 Load
Trailiner Corp. - 1 Load
Transco Lines - 1 Load
Tri Star Freight System - 1 Load
Tri-State Expedited Services Inc. - 1 Load
Unifi - 1 Load
United Road - 1 Load
UPS/PMTA/Bernard Wanyo Jr - 1 Load
V&J Strupp Trucking - 1 Load
Venture Transport - 1 Load
Warren Transport - 1 Load
Westar Moving & Storage, Inc. - 1 Load
Wilson Logistics - 1 Load
Wooster Motor Ways Inc - 1 Load
That was the way it used to be. You bought x number of wreaths for a given location and when you showed up at that location for a given cemetery and time period, you would receive the number of wreaths you had purchased. Then you could go to the gravesite of your friends/loved ones' graves to lay a wreath at their headstone. UNTIL THIS year it worked well.
Unfortunately this year they changed the way they did things, and never bothered to tell anyone about their changes, until AFTER they had collected the money for the wreaths... then SURPRISE... you don't get any of the wreaths you purchased because they were given to the volunteers to blanket-lay them on ALL graves.
The National cemetery is for VETERANS. Their family members may also be buried there, but only IF a veteran is eligible to be buried there. However, by changing the procedure, what we saw was an entire section of graves covered with wreaths... with wreaths on the veteran;s graves... on the spouses' graves... on the "children of's graves, one wreath for each person buried there, whether they were eligible to receive one or not. By consequence, we (and obviously many others) who had ordered and paid for a wreath for our own veterans... NEVER GOT ONE and had to go elsewhere to buy one.
They still made appointments with people to show up at a certain time between 9:00am and 2:00pm in separate hour increments, so not everyone would show up at the same time. Our time today was set for 10:00am, however, by the time we drove through at a snail's pace and arrived to the first WAA trucks, we were informed that there were NO MORE WREATHS LEFT, because they had given them all out to their volunteers to blanket lay wreaths. So those of us that they had sold wreaths to, with the promise to deliver them to lay at our loved ones' graves, were shit out of luck for trusting their empty promises.
WELL, NO MORE. Our trust of WAA ends here and now. We still believe in the IDEA of laying wreaths on fallen heroes' graves for the Christmas/Holiday season, to honor them, but next year we'll buy our own wreaths from Walmart or a nursery and take them ourselves to the cemetery.
They now also say in advance (but after selling you your wreaths) that if they run out of space to ship a wreath to the location you want it at, the 'location coordinator' may redirect your wreaths to another location in need of it, or save it for next year. Hmmm... that sound to me like another way of justifying that they can take your money and don't have to give you anything for it. Sounds like the Liberal agenda has spread to Wreaths Across America as well, as it is understood in Biden's administration. SO, we will sponsor and volunteer for Wreaths Across America NO MORE. But we'll continue to do so, on our own.
So we had to leave early (11:30am) and we drove to Costco in Wesley Chapel, and then went back to the Florida National Cemetery, at 1:30pm. With most people already gone, transiting was easy to go find the graves. The only (other) negative was that it had been raining all day and was still raining, so it was a bit wet to lay the new wreaths.
Bill's brother's (from another father and mother)... but they have been friends since Bill's BD party in 1964) that they were closer than many brothers. Joseph Manuel (Joe) Marble crashed Bill's 14th BD party (1964), because "that was where all the girls were" (or so he said) and they have been BEST FRIENDS ever since then. Joe's gravesite was easy to find. It was still in the same place as it way in 2020, and were he was at interment on Feb. 23, 2012.
His father was working for the US government as an engineer in the Dominican Republic, building bridges and resided there with his wife, Josefa (Petin). As in 2020, his father's grave was not so easy to find. Charles (Chuck) Burr Marble Jr., was erroneously marked on www.findagrave.com, and it was someone else shown there (a Tsgt Robert Wesley Cameron, USAF). Luckily we found him at the site with his wife, Josefa P. (Petin) Marble's gravesite. She was like a second mother to Bill, because he was always at their house, so he probably saw more of her than his own mother, who was never that close to him. We sent photos of their gravesites with the wreaths on them to their daughter/sister, Trinidad (Trinie) Montgomery, who lives in Houston, at last word with her husband..
Chuck and Josefa and Joe's photos
Here are some other photos of this day's event:
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