30K Wreaths Laid on Graves at Missouri Veterans’ Cemetery

A record-setting 30,000 donated wreaths have been placed on the graves of American service members at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis County.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the effort is part of Wreaths Across America. The nonprofit effort works with groups to coordinate wreath-laying ceremonies at more than 1,400 sites across the country. The ceremonies are conducted in conjunction with a national minute of silence and the laying of wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery.

Among those participating was 72-year-old Dennis Klier, an Air Force veteran from Florissant whose father was a decorated World War II pilot. Klier laid wreaths down on his parent’s headstones Monday morning. He then stepped back three paces and raised his right arm in a slow military salute.