Credit: Erich Martin/LevittownNow.com
The regular Wreaths Across America ceremony that was not held on this month at Washington Crossing National Cemetery was replaced with a virtual commemoration of veterans laid to rest at the region’s national veterans cemetery off Highland Road in Upper Makefield.
COVID-19 was responsible for the postponement of the traditional in-person events and memorials at many of the nation’s 5,000 national cemeteries. But what was not visible on the grounds was not lost in the hearts of friends, families, veterans and active military.
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There are approximately 13,000 veterans buried in the Bucks County national veterans cemetery that is expected to eventually accommodate 124,000. But the services the veterans contributed to their country is still not lost on the youngest and newest of active military.
One such example is Pfc. Nicholas Lawrence, a 19-year-old Tullytown resident, who just completed a year of training as an aviation technician in the Marine Corps Reserves. Currently enrolled in Penn State, he will spend his summers, and two weeks a year, with his unit.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree in 2024, he will further his training at the U.S. Naval Base in Pensacola, Florida. But with an eye toward his future, and despite the wreath ceremony being postponed, he took time at the Marine Corp’s recruitment office in Bristol Township to think about those in whose footsteps he follows.
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“I signed up for the purpose of protecting the people I care about. Of the veterans who went before me, going back to 1775, I feel honored to wear the same name tag, and be ready to contribute to my country, as they did,” Lawrence said.
Staff Sgt. Justin Isabella is a Syracuse, New York, native who at 28 has already traveled to the world’s trouble spots and witnessed some of the most appalling conditions that people live in.
Credit: Staff Sgt. John Bainter
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Isabella is an aviation technician serving V-22 Osprey aircraft Isabella has been to Kuwait, Iran, Syria, and Iberia, supporting troop insertions and extractions, and escorting military dignitaries flying over battlefields
In Iberia, his group helped with the Ebola evacuations in 2013. In Syria, the Marines set up firebases, manned and fortified borders around their stations to prevent ISIS penetrations.
Isabella said that if he’d been able to stand amid the graves at the national cemetery, his gratitude would be expressed in an ancient Norse tradition.
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“I would thank them for their service, and say, ‘until next time, brother, in Valhalla’ (the next frontier).”
The ancient word Valhalla represents the mythical Hall of the Fallen, and is a word conveying deepest respect for fallen warriors.
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Wreaths across America began in 1992, when Morrill Worcester first donated them to Arlington National Cemetery. The movement grew and Wreaths Across America became a nonprofit charity in 2007.
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