Teens give tribute by laying wreaths on graves

Published 12:08 pm Monday, December 8, 2014

Sierra Bryant and MaKenzie Mize wandered the lawn at Olney Cemetery, stopping first at one grave, then another. Bryant lugged several wreaths. Mize carried a list of names and a map of the cemetery.

The two teenagers searched for the grave of Eldon Harvey. Block 16, Lot 43. Grave number six. When they found the final resting place of the veteran who died in 1959, the girls propped an evergreen wreath against the gravestone and paused for a second of silent thanks.

Honor. Tribute. Gratitude.

That was the idea behind the Wreaths for Remembrance ceremony on the 73rd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Bryant, Mize and a hardy group of their Griswold High School classmates watched as a color guard unit from the Let ’er Buck VFW Post 922 placed the flag and stood at attention during the singing of the national anthem. After some patriotic words and songs, they unloaded boxes of wreaths from a pickup truck and began placing them on graves. Harvey was one of almost 200 veterans honored Sunday by the Helix students.

Fifteen minutes later, the teenagers had leaned laurels with red bows against each grave in Olney’s American Legion section. The teens spread out into other sections of the cemetery.

Someday, said teacher Lorin Kubishta, they will raise enough to lay wreaths on all 1,000 or so veterans’ graves at Olney. This is the fifth time the school’s Euro Club has done this. The first year, he recalled, they raised enough money for 64 wreaths. This time, the number rose to almost 200 wreaths purchased by businesses and individual for $20 each. The club also sold other wreaths to fund an upcoming trip to Germany, Switzerland and Austria in the spring.

Kubishta said the tribute is modeled after Wreaths Across America, an event that started with the laying of 5,000 at Arlington National Cemetery in 1992. The Helix version started in 2010 and has taken hold. Kubishta said the students increasingly appreciate veterans’ sacrifices as they get older.

“The younger kids are here because I tell them they should be here,” he said. “With the older kids, it’s something more.”

“We have the opportunity to thank veterans, honor them and show appreciation,” said Tucker Wilson, a junior who read a poem during the ceremony.

Senior Alexis Keene said she had her eyes opened while interviewing veterans this year for an oral history project, learning about the rejection some Vietnam War veterans experienced upon returning home. The wreath laying, she said, is “an opportunity to thank them from our hearts.”

Bryant said she felt humbled as she and Mize laid wreath after wreath in tribute to veterans.

“They’ve done so much for us,” Bryant said. “Some lost their lives.”

Bryant said last year she was accompanied by the mother of fallen Army National Guard soldier Tane Baum, of Pendleton, who died at age 30 in Afghanistan when his CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed in 2005.

“She escorted me to the grave and I got to lay the wreath down,” Bryant said. “That was definitely an honor.”

This year, Bryant returned to Baum’s grave. She and Mize laid Baum’s wreath together and took a solemn moment before rising up and moving on.

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Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@eastoregonian.com or call 541-966-0810