Every veteran laid to rest at the Omaha National Cemetery will have a wreath placed on their grave this holiday season.
Cemetery Director Cindy Van Bibber says the public is invited to attend their wreath laying ceremony. "Saturday, we're going to have the ceremony at 11:00 to honor and remember, and hopefully to teach our youth about the importance of remembering those that have gone on before us and those that have served our country."
Van Bibber says no soldier will be passed up during the ceremony. "We'll first allow the families to place wreaths, and then after that we'll have a group that will be here of volunteers that will help us place the other wreaths where family members are not present."
Omaha's cemetery isn't the only one holding this kind of event, Van Bibber says their ceremony coincides with eleven-hundred other cemeteries across the country. “These wreath-laying ceremonies help us continue the mission of maintaining national cemeteries as national shrines, sacred to the honor and memory of those interred or memorialized here. It is a wonderful way for the community to come together to pay our respects during the holiday season.”
Due to parking restraints at the Omaha National Cemetery there will be shuttles available from Werner Park. Parking at the cemetery will be limited to those with handicapped placards. The shuttles will run from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM. The ceremony starts at 11:00 AM.