This past weekend, Wreaths Across America (WAA) celebrated a truly heartfelt holiday milestone, when for the first time it received enough money and manpower to cover each of the 230,000 headstones of every veteran interred at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) with a fresh remembrance wreath. At ANC alone, nearly 50,000 volunteers were on hand to place the wreaths in celebration of this year’s Wreaths Across America Day (Dec. 13, 2014). Celebrating alongside WAA was the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA), which coordinated logistics for the numerous trucking companies and professional truck drivers who made the effort possible behind the scenes. TCA not only covered the delivery arrangements for the ANC deliveries, but also covered the delivery of an additional 490,000 wreaths to 1,034 veterans’ cemeteries stretching from coast to coast.
Including the wreaths placed at Arlington, a total of 720,000 wreaths were distributed nationwide to honor the nation’s fallen veterans. Nearly 300 trucks along with countless supplies of fuel and manpower were donated to accomplish this worthy gesture of respect.This year’s wreath laying effort, including trucking’s role, was highlighted in a 30-minute MSNBC special called “Taking the Hill.” The program not only outlined how the wreaths traveled by truck and recognized TCA’s logistical efforts, but also highlighted the industry’s ‘Trucking Moves America Forward’ message. The network also aired a TCA commercial highlighting the patriotism of the trucking industry. TCA’s Communications co-chair & Pilot Flying J Senior Manager Wendy Hamilton was on hand to witness the excitement of MSNBC’s filming of the trucks’ arrival at Arlington. “It was so impressive to see 70 tractor trailers there, and to realize that trucking made it happen,” said Hamilton. “It made me so proud to be a part of this industry!”An early supporter of WAA, Hamilton committed Pilot Flying J to hosting a second annual appreciation dinner for the many professional truck drivers who finished up their journey on Friday night. The drivers were shuttled from Arlington to the Crystal City Westin hotel, where they enjoyed a delicious meal and entertainment by Nashville recording artist and WAA spokesperson Lindsay Lawler.
At the dinner, Rob Worcester, son of the WAA program founders, presented the James Prout/WAA Spirit of Giving Award to Robert (Bob) Baylor’s two daughters and his 9-year-old granddaughter. The president of Milan, Ind.-based Baylor Trucking, Baylor earned the inaugural award for his many years of hard work furthering the WAA cause and for involving three generations of his family in his efforts. Although Baylor was unable to receive the award at an earlier ceremony, his family members accepted the award on his behalf from Worcester at the Pilot Flying J appreciation dinner.Concluding the evening, Worcester thanked the attendees for their help and showed a moving video tribute created by WAA to thank the trucking industry for all it has done to make National Wreaths Across America Day a success.“There is no way all these wreaths could have reached their destinations without you,” Rob told the pleased audience. “The trucking industry has become an extremely important part of Wreaths Across America, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
