WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 This weekend, a local veteran will join thousands of volunteers, veterans and servicemembers from across the country at Arlington National Cemetery for a powerful act of remembrance \u2014 laying wreaths and speaking the names of America\u2019s fallen heroes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the final resting place for thousands who have served \u2014 from the Civil War to the conflicts of today.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it\u2019s important that we continue to remember those men and women and the service that they did for this country and that we continue to say their name,\u201d said U.S. Air Force veteran Fred Wienecke.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Wienecke will be reading the names of American heroes while laying wreaths at their graves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly emotional. I don\u2019t think there are words that can adequately describe what it\u2019s like to be out there,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wienecke made the trip from Erie with his family to take part in Wreaths Across America \u2014 a mission he\u2019s returned to for the past three years \u2014 ensuring America\u2019s heroes, including those he served with, are never forgotten.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe lay the wreath and then we say the veteran\u2019s name, serviceman or woman\u2019s name,\u201d Wienecke said. \u201cA veteran dies twice in their lifetime. The first is on the field of battle or the subsequent years following their service. And the second time is when their name is no longer uttered.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arlington National Cemetery is where the nationwide tradition began in 1992. What started quietly more than three decades ago has grown into a nationwide movement \u2014 uniting Americans from all walks of life in remembrance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we\u2019re walking on these grounds, things like political opinions and all of that just melt away,\u201d Wienecke said. \u201cWe\u2019re out here for one thing and one thing only, and that\u2019s to honor these veterans.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n