‘They Left A Legacy To Be Honored’

Residents Lay Wreaths For Veterans

About 75 people braved the cold in Lexington’s historic Evergreen Cemetery on Saturday as local leaders, volunteers and Virginia Military Institute cadets came together to honor service members’ sacrifices by laying wreaths on their graves.

Part of the national Wreaths Across America initiative, this was Lexington’s first year hosting the event at a cemetery – the “first of many,” according to Lexington Mayor Frank Friedman.

Ron Perkins, one of the event’s key organizers, opened the ceremony, welcomed the crowd, and held a moment of silence. His two grandsons then led a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Friedman was the first of three community leaders to speak. He framed the event as part of a nationwide effort “to remember, honor, and teach,” urging the crowd: “Remember those who have fallen in service to our country… honor their service, and teach the next generation the value of freedom.” Friedman thanked organizers Perkins, Russ Elliott and Dennis Bussey and the VMI cadets, who “have pooled their talents to bring us to this day.” He invoked the words of Martin Luther King Jr.: “Wars have been fought for it, treaties and pacts have been formed to ensure it. Men and women have sacrificed everything to experience it. That ‘it’ is freedom.

“Will you make time to pause from your busy day to share what freedom means to you?” Friedman asked.

After his speech, City Council member Marylin Alexander spoke, reflecting on Evergreen’s history as a burial ground for many Black veterans whose stories remain untold. “When I was growing up … I used to come to the cemetery traipsing through the tall grass and weeds,” she said. “Those large numbers of people are representative of the large number of veterans interred here …They left a legacy to be honored.”

Alexander highlighted the event as a doorway to understanding and honoring that legacy. “We really need you to share your valuable knowledge of our ancestors interred here,” she prompted the crowd. “The names listed on the Historic Lexington Foundation tour guide … only scratches the surface, as there wasn’t really enough room to name all of the people who were interred here who have history that needs to be shared.”

Noting the wealth of local history in Lexington, Alexander urged the community to learn from the past: “We owe them.”

Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Lawrence Havird, VMI’s commandant of cadets, then gave a brief address, and underscored the importance of youth in carrying forward these lessons.

“These young men and women you see before me are our future,” he said. Standing amid ranks of cadets, Havird highlighted the symbolic nature of the setting: “To be at a place called Evergreen is, in my mind, a way to look forward … always looking to greener pastures.”

After the speeches, and a performance of “Taps” by Peter Del Vecchio, Perkins demonstrated the proper wreath-laying procedure, encouraging participants to say the names of the fallen out loud. A bagpiper played “Amazing Grace,” and VMI cadets stationed throughout the cemetery distributed wreaths to participants.

The News-Gazette participated in laying a wreath, and spoke to some citizens who were happy to be involved.

Curtis, a local teen who attends Parry McCluer High School, was all smiles as he carried multiple wreaths to veterans’ graves, which were marked with small American flags so participants knew where to lay them.

Mary Stuart Harlow said that her heart was full as she laid a wreath, mentioning that her father was buried in a veteran’s cemetery far from Lexington.

“I can’t be there, so somebody somewhere is doing this for him,” she said. “It’s really nice to be a part of this.”