Ashley Hosts Wreath-Laying Ceremony to Honor Veterans

December 19, 2017  by Larry Thomas in Community / Charitable Support, Industry   

The event, which took place at the park’s Soldiers Walk memorial, was held in conjunction with the national “Wreaths Across America” day. It marked the second year of Ashley’s sponsorship of the ceremony.

During the ceremony, veterans, community members and Ashley volunteers laid wreaths at each of the war memorials along Soldiers Walk. Simultaneously, thousands of volunteers and sponsors in over 1,200 additional locations across the country, at sea, and abroad held their own wreath-laying ceremonies to honor the contributions and sacrifice of U.S. veterans.

"Our first ceremony was last December at Soldiers Walk in Arcadia, Wisconsin’s Memorial Park," recalled Steve Ralston, director of safety at Ashley Distribution Services and a U.S. Army veteran. "It was frigid cold and snowing, and I thought even as cold as we were, it was nothing compared to what our soldiers and heroes went through during the Battle of the Bulge. That was my unit that was there, so the mission objective to remember really hit home that day."

Leading up to the ceremony, a parade of trucks traveled down the East Coast, bringing wreaths to the grave sites of veterans at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., and other veterans' cemeteries along the way. This year, Ashley Distribution Services assisted in transporting wreaths.

Two Ashley trucks and trailers debuted new “Salute Our Veterans” graphics while delivering wreaths from Maine to Philadelphia National Cemetery and from Mississippi to Dallas/Fort Worth Cemetery. The two trailers were driven by Ashley Ambassadors who are military veterans.

Ashley now has six trailers with the graphics honoring veterans, all of which will run year-round out of various Ashley manufacturing and distribution facilities.