Placing wreaths on a historic grave Saturday were two Navy recruiters and Grant Ronald Noah, regional president of the Sons of the American Revolution. The gesture was one of hundreds on Wreaths Across America Day, a commemorative ceremony at Sonoma Veterans Memorial Park.
Wreaths Across America is a nationwide holiday remembrance of veterans. This year, the ceremony took place at over 530 veterans’ cemeteries in all 50 states, at 24 American military cemeteries on foreign soil, and aboard a U.S. Navy ship sailing on each of the seven seas. In the observance, seven commemorative wreaths — one for each branch of the U.S. military, plus the Merchant Marine and POW/MIA – are formally presented for placement.
Following the formal ceremony, free wreaths were handed out to be placed on the grave of a loved one, friend or fellow veteran. Members of all branches of the military accompanied them, if requested, to render honors at the gravesite.
As the wreath was placed, officers offered a crisp, silent salute to their fallen comrade.
After covering the Veterans Cemetery, officers, veterans, volunteers and family members fanned out through Mountain Cemetery in search of the graves of veterans buried there.
Noah honored the resting place of Capt. William Smith, the only known veteran of the American Revolution buried west of the Mississippi. Smith, who joined the Continental Navy at age 11, died in Sonoma in 1846.
Civil Air Patrol Squadron 157 of Sonoma County Airport, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1943 and American Legion Post 489 of Sonoma coordinated the local ceremony.
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