The 'Wreaths Across America' convoy, whose mission is 'To Hope, Honor and Teach,' will again bring balsam wreaths from Maine to be laid on veterans' gravesites at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia. This year the national convoy will be stopping at Montgomery High School on Wednesday, December 12th.
Montgomery High School is proud to be hosting a public ceremony welcoming the convoy and celebrating its annual mission. The event will be held at 1016 Rt. 601, Skillman, at 3:45 p.m. on Dec. 12.
Montgomery Township is offering free flags to residents who
wish to welcome the convoy by waving the flags on the road/entrance in front of the high school. The flags are available in the reception area of the municipal building, 2261 Rt. 206, Belle Mead, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The flags will be available any time before Dec. 12.
Residents are asked to arrive at the high school by 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 12 with the flags and follow police directions on where to park.
Speaking at the high school ceremony will be Brigadier Gen. Michael L. Cunniff, a longtime Montgomery resident, who is the former Adjutant Gen. for New Jersey, commanding more than 9,000 soldiers and airmen of the New Jersey National Guard.
Chris Jaeger, a township police officer and an active member of the National Guard, will speak about his experiences as a sergeant first class in Baghdad during the fall of 2008.
Bob and Cindy Roberts, Gold Star parents of Sgt. Kristie A. Roberts, a New York Army National medic who died in 2012, will also speak. Also speaking will be Artie Muller, one of the founders of Rolling Thunder, an organization that advocates for veterans and families of those imprisoned or missing in action (POW/MIA).
Army Veteran, singer, songwriter and philanthropist Rockie Lynne, founder of the NPO, "Tribute to the Troops," will also perform.
The street outside the high school is dedicated to 1st Lt. Ashley Henderson-Huff, a 2000 graduate of Montgomery High School, who was killed in a suicide bomber attack Sept. 19, 2006 in Mosul, Iraq.
The Wreaths Across America convoy, which stopped in Manville last year, will begin its trip from Washington County, Maine to Arlington National Cemetery on Dec. 8. The convoy is scheduled to arrive in Arlington on National Wreaths Across America Day on Dec. 15 where it will be met by thousands of volunteers who will place a wreath on the headstones at the cemetery.
Convoy escorts include American Gold Star Mothers, Blue Star Families, Gold Star Wives of America, veterans and Wreaths Across America volunteers. Patriot Guard Riders, Patriot Riders of America and Rolling Thunder will flank the escort along with Maine law enforcement officers.
