Trucker volunteers to deliver wreaths for veterans' graves

From behind the wheel of his big rig, Vietnam veteran Bill Duckworth spends a couple of weeks each December honoring fallen troops.

He delivered about 400 hand-made, live wreaths to Macon on Tuesday to be placed on the graves of veterans at Riverside Cemetery. The cemetery, for the third year, is taking part in Wreaths Across America to be held nationwide Saturday.

The event is intended to honor military veterans during the Christmas season by decorating graves with wreaths.

Duckworth, who is retired, is one of about 200 truck drivers who volunteer each year to deliver the wreaths from Maine to cemeteries across the nation. Tuesday afternoon he was escorted from Milledgeville to Macon by law enforcement and about two dozen Patriot Guard riders.

His journey begins shortly after Thanksgiving when he leaves his south Georgia home in Leesburg, and heads to John Christner Trucking Co. in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. The company is one of about 90 trucking companies that provide trucks at no cost for the wreath deliveries.

Duckworth, who served in the Marines, was headed to Leesburg for the night after leaving Macon on Tuesday. He planned on Wednesday to drop off more wreaths at Andersonville National Cemetery, then it would be on to Florida for a couple of stops. He planned to end his delivery route at Fort Stewart near Savannah on Saturday. There, he expects to participate in the ceremony after having delivered about 4,500 of the wreaths.

The journey is something he looks forward to each year.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," he said. "A lot of things in history are not being taught like (they) should be in school, and people need to be made aware of what our veterans have done."

Steve Bell, who helps organize the local ceremony at Riverside Cemetery, said the hope is to eventually get enough wreaths for every one of the estimated 4,000 veterans graves there.

The ceremony begins at noon, and the featured speaker is Maj. Gen. Richard "Beef" Haddad, vice commander of the Air Force Reserve Command.

After the ceremony, volunteers will lay wreaths at various graves in the cemetery. Bell said some of the graves were specified by donors, but many others are randomly chosen.

The cemetery is at 1301 Riverside Drive in Macon.

The wreaths cost $15 each, but it's too late to donate for this year. Bell said any new donations will go toward next year's wreaths.

A recent visitor to the cemetery mentioned she found a wreath on her father's grave last year and she didn't know who put it there, Bell said. When she was told that it came from the Wreaths Across America ceremony, she donated $100 on the spot.

Another lady from Virginia called to donate money to put wreaths on two family members graves. She then asked if the cemetery had a enough wreaths for all of the veterans graves, and when she was told how many there were, she donated $500.

To contact writer Wayne Crenshaw, call 256-9725.

This story was originally published December 8, 2015 at 7:28 PM with the headline "Trucker volunteers to deliver wreaths for veterans' graves ."