Cadets, volunteers honor veterans with wreath laying

Abby Sharpe, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
Updated ·2 min read

Dec. 17—ROCHESTER — The first time McKenzie Strenke participated in Wreaths Across America, she was a 14-year-old cadet with the Southeast Minnesota Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol.

Now a 17-year-old lieutenant, Strenke was at Soldiers Field Veterans Memorial Saturday morning, Dec. 17, for the annual remembrance that takes place each December across the country.

After, cadets and volunteers split into groups and headed to three Rochester cemeteries to lay wreaths on the graves of veterans. This year, Strenke secured enough sponsorships to honor 216 veterans with wreaths at their gravesites. That brings her total to over 500 wreaths since 2019.

Strenke said she's always been impacted by the program. But, as she's grown in the cadet program and looks ahead to training with the Iowa National Guard come spring, Wreaths Across America has taken on a new meaning.

"I thought the whole purpose behind Wreaths Across America was really important," Strenke said. "I have family members that have served and have now passed, so I thought having the opportunity to honor them was really important. We remember our relatives that have served. But there are people that, generations have gone by, and people have passed, and there's nobody left to remember them.

"And now that I'm serving in the Air National Guard, it has an even deeper meaning, because I know someday I want to be remembered."

The annual wreath laying is coordinated with the ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery and the other 3,400-plus ceremonies across the U.S.

Second Lt. Matt Treichel, a senior member of the Composite Squadron, who organized the ceremony, said it's important to remember veterans all year, especially during the holiday season.

"As a veteran myself, it's important to know that I won't be forgotten," he said. "Part of that is remembering those who went before us and the sacrifices they made. You know the common saying, 'All gave some. Some gave all.' It's good to remember the veterans that may not otherwise be remembered."

Honoring veterans also means acknowledging our freedoms, said Elsa Olson, a senior member and another organizer of the ceremony.

"To be able to have a moment to just pause and remember our veterans and honor them [is important]," she said. "Because of them, we have freedoms in this country."

When the cadets gather at the cemeteries to lay wreaths at the grave of a veteran, they first clean off the headstone, then read the names and salute.

"It's a solemn kind of thing, but it's very profound," Olson said. "It's profound to be able to have these younger kids do this and really just take a moment to hopefully start to understand what these past generations have done."