This year is a first for many families of deceased U.S. servicemembers and veterans who will be celebrating the holidays without their loved ones. The organization, Senior Veterans, is hoping to help them honor and remember their loved ones.
On Saturday, Dec. 14, the organization will lay wreaths on the graves of thousands of veterans at Miramar National Cemetery and Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Senior Veterans, established in 2011, has received more than 13,000 orders in San Diego this year for wreaths. The hope now is for more volunteers.
"This is a way for people that they can give back to all of those that have given us the most," said David Bolser, the founder & CEO of Senior Veterans.
About 138,000 veterans are buried across Miramar National Cemetery and Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Karen Wilson, the child of a U.S. Army veteran, knows all too well the sacrifice her father, Joseph Barros, paid.
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"We take for granted so many of the freedoms we do have … and I think we forget to thank those people that really put it all on the line for us," Wilson said while she sat in front of her father's grave at Miramar National Cemetery.
On the other side of Barros' grave lays his wife, Patricia Barros. Wilson lost them a few months apart in 2018 and 2019. Although a few years have passed, Wilson said the holiday season can be hard to celebrate without them there.
"We all miss them tremendously," said Wilson.
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Senior Veterans offers a service to purchase a wreath for a loved one who is a veteran. The deadline for a specific grave request is Nov. 28. If you would like to donate a wreath, the deadline is Dec. 3. The event is open to the public, and anyone can show up to volunteer. Head to this website to donate and order wreaths.
"There's going to be thousands of family members — this is going to be their first Thanksgiving, and their first Christmas without their loved one," said Bolser.
