Tahlequah Woman Wants To Honor Fallen Veterans With Christmas Wreaths

Parades across Green Country gave thousands a chance to show support on Veterans Day. 

But, a Tahlequah woman is looking ahead to Christmas for a different way to remember veterans.  

At the Tahlequah Veterans Day Parade, there's music and American flags. There's also a group determined to place a wreath at each headstone at the Fort Gibson National Cemetary for the holiday season.

"Before I die! That's my goal!!" said Charlotte Guinn with Wreaths for Fallen Heroes.

Guinn is leading the effort with Wreaths for Fallen Heroes and she's got about 3,000 wreaths in storage.

Servpro in Fort Gibson is letting Guinn store the wreaths for free, but she wants to fill up the storage unit with enough wreaths for each veteran at the cemetery. 

"So, I'm not real good at math but there's a bunch that's not gonna get wreaths," Guinn said. 

Wreaths have been placed at the cemetery before with Wreaths Across America, which first started at Arlington National Cemetery in 1992. 

"It's just breathtaking," Guinn said. 

She's doing this now for people like her sister, Bonnie Harper. 

Her son, Army Staff Sgt. "BJ" Beardsley, died in Iraq at age 25. 

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"He was known by his other soldiers as 'Superman,'" Harper said. 

Beardsley is buried at Arlington.

"We don't have the opportunity to go there, so we kind of adopted Fort Gibson National Cemetery," Harper said. 

Guinn just ordered 4,000 wreaths from Walmart, but they won't arrive until after the first of next year.

She plans to place another order soon, this time for 6,000.

They said Veterans Day donations will help. 

"If the money doesn't come in, I will take it out of my retirement account," she said. 

Because, they say, that's a small price to pay for those who gave everything.  

"As free Americans, that's our responsibility. To not to forget how we got the freedom that we have," said Bonnie Harper, Wreaths for Fallen Heroes.

Wreaths for For Fallen Heroes has enough wreaths to cover three sections of the cemetery this winter.

For information on how you can help get a wreath at each one of the 22,000 graves visit Wreaths For Fallen Heroes Facebook page.