As I sat down to type out this message for the upcoming newsletter, it occurred to me that I have a somewhat recurring theme in all of my articles thus far, and that is I have included song titles or lyrics in each of those articles. I apologize in advance to those of you who may get a song stuck in your head after I bring up the lyrics to a particular song, but since I have been working on lesson plans for Patriot Day for the past couple of weeks, there is only one song that comes to mind,

Have you forgotten how it felt that day

To see your homeland under fire

And her people blown away…

As the proud mother of two sons who served in the Global War on Terror, and the proud Gold Star Mother of one of those two sons, this Darryl Worley song brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. Last year on the WAA Convoy, I was honored to be selected to go to the Pentagon to place wreaths on the fence that separates the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial from the Pentagon.

As Volunteers, Cemetery Coordinators and Liaisons, you are already a member of the Wreaths Across America family, and I know the answer to the question, YOU have not forgotten. You play a vital role in sharing the WAA Mission to Remember-Honor-Teach. As you spend time with your children, grandchildren, other young people, and educators, make sure you share the resources we have available on the Teach component of the website. This generation of young people were not born on September 11, 2001, and the answer to the question for them, is no they do not remember. It is up to all of us to teach this generation the value of the freedoms we enjoy in this country every day.

I would like to congratulate Trevor Geer for being selected as the recipient of the Wreaths Across America Learn Award. WAA received many outstanding nominations for the Learn Award, young people from across the United States. The four-member selection panel-consisting of Gold Star Mothers had a tough time deciding on the recipient. Trevor is a young man of exemplary character; he has a volunteer’s heart for our Veterans and truly understands the value of freedom.

This month, in honor of Ring a Bell for Rosie on September 5, WAA would like to highlight another one of our Teach Initiative Partners-the American Rosie Movement! The ARM and their sister organization, Thanks Plain and Simple want us to remember Rosies for pulling together to defend and keep our freedom. “Rosies pulled together during the war – despite changes in society since then, we can do it again. In short, Rosies worked for us to have the freedom we need to find ways to pull together today. We can’t forget them or their legacy.” You can access information about the American Rosie Movement on the Wreaths Across America Teach Page!

And a reminder to those of you who are interested in getting a Student Led Sponsorship Group for Wreaths Across America started in your area or local schools, please contact Iris Levandoski at ilevandoski@wreathsacrossamerica.org or by phone at 207-470-0962 Ext. 630.

Learn more about Wreaths Across America's educational resources here.