Wreaths Across America to Stop at Fishburne Military School

Wreaths Across America to Stop at Fishburne Military School

Colonel Michael Wawrzyniak, VMI Head of Military Science to deliver address

Waynesboro, VA – On Tuesday, December 12, Fishburne Military School will once again host a Wreaths Across America ceremony to honor America’s veterans. Colonel Michael Wawrzyniak, Professor of Military Science at the Virginia Military Institute and head of VMI’s Military Science Department, will deliver the address to the Corps of Cadets and guests.

The ceremony will begin at 2:30pm in the Fishburne Military School gymnasium and is open to the public (particularly area veterans and families of those killed or wounded in service. 

This will mark the 5th year that Fishburne Military School has been chosen as a location for the ceremony. Wreaths Across America was founded in 2007 as an extension of The Arlington Wreath Project now boasts over 700 participating locations throughout all 50 states. 

What began in 1992 with a trailer load of wreaths, decorated by volunteers and laid at the graves of fallen soldiers in Arlington National Cemetery has grown into a national organization with the mission to Remember, Honor, and Teach.

The event, which is now recognized as National Wreaths Across America Day, began in 1992, when Maine’s Worcester Wreath found themselves with a surplus of wreaths nearing the end of the holiday season. Remembering his boyhood experience at Arlington, owner Morrill Worcester realized he had an opportunity to honor our country’s veterans. With the aid of Maine Senator Olympia Snowe, arrangements were made for the wreaths to be placed at Arlington in one of the older sections of the cemetery that had been receiving fewer visitors with each passing year.

Twenty-five years later, the event has spread throughout every state in the union and the ceremony hosted at Waynesboro’s Fishburne Military School has become a local holiday favorite. 

“Truly understanding and honoring the sacrifices made by the men and women of America’s armed services is vital to our students’ education and personal development. As we enter into the Holiday season, we should all take a moment to pause and give thanks for those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we may celebrate in peace and security,” noted Fishburne Military School Superintendent, Captain Mark Black, US Navy, retired.

Fishburne Military School is the oldest and smallest of all military schools for boys in Virginia. Its college-prep curriculum is built on the structure of an Army JROTC program. FMS has been designated as a JROTC Honor Unit with Distinction and may nominate qualified candidates to the United States Service Academies. Fishburne hosts one of only four Summer JROTC programs in the nation that is accredited by US Army Cadet Command.