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BATON ROUGE, La.—The Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs will hold Wreaths Across America ceremonies at Louisiana’s state-run veterans cemeteries on Saturday, Dec. 18. Ceremonies are held annually on Dec. 18 across the nation at more than 2,500 memorial sites in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and on foreign soil to remember, honor and teach.

“Wreaths Across America is so important because its mission is to ensure that no veteran is forgotten, especially during the holidays,” said LDVA Secretary Joey Strickland, COL (USA Retired). “We encourage every person who places a wreath on a veteran’s grave to say that veteran’s name aloud and take a moment to thank them for their service to our country.”

The schedule of ceremonies is as follows:

Central Louisiana Veterans Cemetery

3348 University Parkway

Leesville, LA 71446

10:55 a.m. ceremony followed by wreath placement

Guest speaker Brigadier General David S. Doyle, USA

Northeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery

2413 Highway 425

Rayville, LA 71269

10 a.m. wreath placement followed by 11 a.m. ceremony

Guest speaker First Sergeant Calvin Sistrunk, USA

Southeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery

34888 Grantham College Drive

Slidell, LA 70460

11 a.m. ceremony followed by wreath placement

Guest speaker Captain Todd Bruemer, USN

Southwest Louisiana Veterans Cemetery

1620 Evangeline Road

Jennings, LA 70546

10:55 a.m. ceremony followed by wreath placement

Guest speaker Steve Theriot, SGM (USA Retired)

The Northwest Louisiana Veterans Cemetery held its ceremony in advance on Friday, Dec. 10 followed by placement of wreaths.

In 2020, 1.7 million veterans’ wreaths were placed in total across the country with approximately 267,000 of them at Arlington National Cemetery including 14,000 for the Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery. More than one million volunteers participated at 2,557 locations nationwide, and more than one-third of those volunteers were children. More than 500 truckloads of wreaths were delivered across the country by hundreds of volunteer professional truck drivers driving donated equipment and fuel from approximately 225 carriers.

For more information about the Wreaths Across America ceremonies or LDVA, visit vetaffairs.la.gov, email veteran@la.gov, call 225.219.5000 or follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.