Friday morning, veterans and families gathered at Oak Grove Cemetery in Vineyard Haven to remember the fallen soldiers who lost their lives while serving in the U.S. military.
As part of the national Wreaths Across America movement, American Legion Post 257 invited Tisbury School students and volunteers to observe the ceremony, during which veterans representing each branch of the U.S. military laid holiday wreaths for their friends and comrades.
Among the wreath presenters was Gold Star mother Tracy Taylor. Her son, Kenneth Iwasinski, was killed by an explosive device in Baghdad, Iraq, four years ago.
“To lose a child, there’s no other pain that I can explain,” she said. “Unfortunately it’s sad remembrance to be a gold star parent, but it is an honor in a strange way.”
Wreaths Across America began over 15 years ago when Worcester Wreath Company in Maine placed wreaths on the headstone of fallen heroes at Arlington National Cemetery.