Wood County Marine Corps League lays wreaths on veterans’ graves
WOOD COUNTY, Texas (KLTV) - In Wood County hundreds of wreaths were placed on the graves of veterans at Roselawn Cemetery this morning. The Wood County Marine Corps League, along with many volunteers were able to lay all 677 wreaths as a way to remember their sacrifices and educate younger generations.
Kelly Kieke placed a wreath on her aunt Mozelle Simpson’s grave at Roselawn Cemetery as a way to honor her.
“My aunt Mozelle flew in World War 2 as a woman and wasn’t able to speak about it in public, and so she basically lived her whole life not being able to be honored and passed away before she got that privilege,” she said. “So I feel like it’s kind of part of my duty to let people know what an amazing person she was and what she did for our county.”
Kieke said she was brilliant at math and won a calculus contest in the state of Oklahoma. As a prize, she got to go in an airplane.
“She fell in love with it. She drew political comics to raise money to go to college and through flight school and all of that,” Kieke said. “Then decided to join the WASP, which was the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots. It was civilians that were trained by the military for military services and they ferried twin engine bombers and bombers into combat to free up the men to fight in the war.”
She brushed off her grandfather’s grave and placed a wreath. He was in the Army during WWII.
“He taught me morse code and he would write me letters,” she said.
It was a day to remember loved ones, and even those who didn’t know someone at Roselawn came out to honor their memories. Misty Goldman and Christine Vazquez-Thomas are both Gold Star sisters. They lost their brothers, who are buried in other places, but felt it was important to be here today.
“Doing something like this is a huge impact on not only the community and those who are veterans, but it’s also to us and our families. So this means a whole lot to she and I,” Goldman said.
“It’s emotional, especially when you see a wreath on your family’s plot. Just to know that someone cares enough to bring one out there,” Vazquez-Thomas said.
Sarah Lucas is a member of Wood County Marine Corps League and retired Army veteran. She says events like this are important to the community as a whole.
“I think with just bringing the honor for each veteran is to identify them and teaching the younger generation of what sacrifices they had to be part of serving our country,” Lucas said.
The Wood County Marine Corps League will be looking for volunteers to help pick up the wreaths on Jan. 21 at 10 a.m.
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