LANCASTER, Calif.-The biggest crowd since its inception at Lancaster Cemetery more than a dozen years ago turned out for the Wreaths Across America memorial tribute to troops, including representatives from the F-35 Test Team at Edwards Air Force Base.
Members of the Royal Air Force came out from their duty station at Edwards, bringing a wreath to honor RAF airmen of World War II at final rest in the Mojave Desert city’s oldest cemetery.
Hundreds attended the Dec. 14, 2023, gathering, one of the capstone events of the holiday season in Lancaster.
“We have been out here before in the rain, and in rain and wind, but look at the weather we have today,” said Cemetery Trustee Dave Owens.
Among the volunteers participating were the American Legion Riders, with their veteran motorcycle escort rumbling into the memorial park. In addition to the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, there were veteran non-profits and service organizations like Coffee4Vets, the Marine Corps League, Vets4Veterans, the AV Veterans Community Action Coalition, and Blue Star Mothers of the Antelope Valley, parents of adult children in service.
“It’s a beautiful event,” said Julie Norris Wotasik, who attended with her husband Gary. The Wotasiks are the Gold Star parents of Air Force “PJ” pararescue airman who was killed in 1998 in the crash of two Blackhawk helicopters that collided during night special operations training near Nellis AFB.
Like hundreds of others, the Wotasiks gathered up wreaths shipped from the East Coast to decorate the headstones of veterans at final rest on the West Coast.
Owens of the Lancaster Cemetery District board greeted the RAF representatives, United Kingdom allies who came from their duty station at Edwards Air Force Base in dress uniform. Owens told them, “We have two members of the RAF here. May I escort you?”
RAF Sgt. Jamie Douglas, with his comrades, brought a wreath that honored the RAF Allied pilots fighting for Britain during World War II who trained in the Antelope Valley.
“I’m from Edinburgh, Scotland,” Douglas said. “We even have a mate from England here,” he quipped. “We love the community here,” he added.
Previously, in 2021, the RAF presented a memorial wreath honoring Meyer Bernard Himelstaub, a Polaris Air Academy cadet killed in training during World War II. Also attending the Wreaths Across America event on Saturday was Air Force veteran and Aerotech contributor Bob Alvis. Alvis eulogized Himelstaub on Memorial Day 2021.
More than 1,100 veterans of the nation’s armed services are in final rest at Lancaster Cemetery, and this past weekend, all of them were adorned with fresh, bright Christmas decoration as part of the Wreaths Across America memorial tribute.
At this holiday season more than 500 veterans and supporters of America’s military turned out at Lancaster’s municipal cemetery, loading up with armloads of wreaths shipped in from the Wreaths Across America organization.
“It is important we understand that the reason we are here today, the reason that we are able to be here today is only because of what the people did who lie at rest here,” Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris said.
Most of the Lancaster City Council turned up this year, including the newest member, recent Army Captain Lauren Hughes-Leslie, a West Point graduate who served with the 4th Infantry Division, and Councilman Ken Mann, whose father served in World War II.
“When I think about it, I am lucky to be here today,” said Mann, a perennial presence at the Wreaths Across America annual ceremonies.
Mann’s father flew in a B-17 Flying Fortress in missions to bomb Nazi Germany, and his crew position, ball turret gunner, was just about the most dangerous. The turret was in a rotating glassed-in steel cage with two .50 caliber machine guns, suspended to the belly of the aircraft.
It was the only position inside the heavily armed bomber that did not have a parachute because the turret compartment was so small. If the aircraft were stricken by anti-aircraft fire, the gunner would have to climb out of the ball turret, having about 30 seconds to don a parachute. If the bomber crash-landed and the gunner couldn’t exit the turret, he was certain to be killed.
Wreaths Across America, however, is when the living pay tribute to the honored dead, with troops at rest in Lancaster Cemetery with service all the way back to the Civil War, and burials of veterans continuing through two world wars, Korea, through to Vietnam.
Beginning early on a cold, but crisp and clear Saturday, scores of volunteers turned out to affix ties to the wreaths that would be propped on stakes at veterans marker stones. Volunteers included Scouts and Jr. ROTC cadets, veterans service organizations, and the Blue Star Mothers of the Antelope Valley, mothers of adult children in service.
“It is so good to be out here,” said Ida Ketchum, an 80-something who has been elder statesperson of the Blue Star Mothers for many years.
“We are also raising funds to pay for headstones for veterans without a stone,” said Kathleen Crowley-Staats, one of the longtime leaders of the group.
With everyone gathered, and the American Legion Riders helping to officiate, the wreaths were passed out quickly and everyone headed out to the headstones, row on row. Within the hour, Lancaster Cemetery had a display for its memorialized veterans that emulated scenes across the nation, including Arlington National Cemetery.
Editor’s note: Dennis Anderson is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at High Desert Medical Group. An Army paratrooper veteran, he deployed to Iraq with California National Guard to cover the war for regional press and Editor & Publisher magazine. He serves as Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s appointee on the Los Angeles County Veterans Advisory Committee.
