KAILUA-KONA — All across the country, wreaths were being laid on the graves of veterans on Saturday morning. It was the same at the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery.
Members of the Civil Air Patrol, its cadets, Rotary and numerous veteran groups packed armfuls of the fragrant foliage to the grave sites following a sunrise ceremony timed to match others around the nation.
Awapuhi Graffe placed a wreath at a memorial for the missing in action, and took a moment to reflect on her father-in-law, U.S. Army Capt. Paul Graffe, who vanished in Vietnam in 1969.
“Our dream is that some day we’ll get a phone call and there will be match, and they’ll bring his remains home,” said Graffe, who attended with her husband Paul.
There were wreaths for everyone — including the ones who didn’t come home.
A total of 450 pieces of the Christmas cheer brightened up the cemetery — the first time that the event has been able to gather enough greenery for all of the graves and columbariums in the seven years that Wreaths Across America has been observed here, said CAP Squadron Commander Lisa Myrick.
“For me personally, it is about teaching our next generation about the cost of the freedom they enjoy,” Myrick said prior to the ceremony. “I am a huge history buff, so passing that history on to our cadets is very important.”
Cadet Noah Oberg does not have any relatives buried in the cemetery, but he got up early on Saturday to help out the CAP and the larger community. As the splashes of green and red were laid out, Paul Graffe found reason to celebrate not just the wreaths but the greater progress that has happened in bringing the veterans park into shape.
“I wish you could have seen this before. It was just rubble and rock,” he said. “Now people can come and sit and reflect on the missing. Not just here, but the other 90,000.”
Wreaths Across America has been honoring veterans with holiday wreaths since 1992, with a main event at Arlington National Cemetery and corresponding ceremonies in all 50 states and abroad. Last year, volunteers laid more than 700,000 wreaths at 1,000 locations.
Locally, the event is supported by fundraising all year round and numerous individual donations.
