New Wreaths Across America group honors 2,100 veterans' graves in North Huntingdon

Grave by grave, more than 2,000 veterans in two North Huntingdon cemeteries were honored with wreaths, salutes and thank-yous Saturday with the inauguration of a new chapter of Wreaths Across America.

Over the last four months, Rhonda Hunt of North Huntingdon collected donations, rallied volunteers and tallied veterans' graves in Irwin Union Cemetery and Immaculate Conception Cemetery, having been inspired to adopt the veterans' memorial service by the vets who helped locate and bring home the remains of her husband's uncle, a soldier who had gone missing during the Korean War.

“The veterans who became part of our family to honor him and to bring him home, we wanted to give back to them,” she said.

So Hunt got guidance from the national Wreaths Across America group, but she was responsible for all her own fundraising and volunteer wrangling. Over the course of about a week, she and other volunteers went row-by-row through the hilly cemeteries, counting where the local VFW had placed American flags on veterans' graves; they used plastic utility flags to mark any other graves that noted military service.

By the time they reached the organization's November deadline for ordering wreaths, Hunt said they were short — just 1,300 of about 2,100 wreaths were pledged, at $15 each. But with a one-week extension and a donation from the Pittsburgh Pirates, the group met their goal and had another volunteer truck in the piles of wreaths that were stacked section by section throughout the cemetery.

Saturday afternoon, volunteers gathered at Union Cemetery for a ceremony honoring each branch of the military and the POWs or Missing in Action, then fanned out to carry wreaths to each flag-marked grave. Every time they laid a wreath, they were encouraged to pause, say the veteran's name, and thank them for their service.

Maria Larson-Edwards and her husband, Mike, brought their 3-year-old son Myles to participate in the ceremony.

“Early on, we want to teach him about service, and community, and to understand how important it is to honor those who fought and gave their lives for us,” said Larson-Edwards, 30, of Penn Hills.

Her mother, Nancy Osinski of Churchill, was one of the volunteer coordinators who'd worked alongside Hunt.

“We didn't think we'd make it, but we did: 2,076, so every veteran will get a wreath,” Osinski said. “I had uncles who served, so this is very dear to me. They're all gone, so this is the only way I can honor them.”

In addition to the honor guard, there were several uniformed members of the Norwin High School JROTC among the crowd of about 200 laying wreaths.

“They were willing at one point in their lives to give their lives for us,” said Ken Divens, 17.

“I feel honored to put these wreaths on the graves of veterans because they're not here anymore to honor each other,” said Victoria Gasparovic, 15.

Matthew Santoni is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724 836 6660, msantoni@tribweb.com or via Twitter @msantoni.