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Category: Front Page News Front Page News
Published: 18 December 2020 18 December 2020

 Photos of the ceremony are courtesy of the committee. Afternoon photos of the graves with wreaths are by Mary Alice Murphy

The Fort Bayard National Cemetery served as the site for the annual Wreaths Across America ceremony on Dec. 18, 2020. Originally scheduled for Dec. 19, 2020, it had to be drastically scaled back with only five people participating due to cemetery restrictions because of COVID-19.

A few members of the Fort Bayard Wreaths Across America committee laid all the wreaths on the more than 4000 gravestones, with a wreath for every veteran buried at the cemetery, thanks to the generosity of the Grant County community.

Mary Cowan, who heads up the committee, began the effort to place wreaths on all the graves several years ago and has increased the coverage each year, with last year and this year seeing every grave covered by a wreath.

Others participating in the ceremony were committee members and veterans Dr. John Bell, Robert Lopez and Michael Gonzales, with the held of Joseph Trujillo, who manages the Fort Bayard National Cemetery for the National Cemetery Association.