Volunteers, Gold Star families prepare for ‘Wreaths Across America’ ceremony

PITTSBURGH — It’s a year-long mission that all leads up to Saturday: Wreaths Across America at U.S. national cemeteries, including the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies in Washington County.

In preparation for the event, hundreds of wreaths were delivered Friday morning, with the trucks that carried them coming all the way from Maine.

“I’ve lost a lot of good friends through disease and other things that has happened to them in their military careers, and I just feel obligated to do something for them,” said Tony Gossett, a veteran who drove one of the trucks.

They were greeted by volunteers who unloaded each and every box, placing them in groups by each section of the cemetery. One of those volunteers was David Podurgiel, a veteran himself, who, just two months ago, buried his father with full military honors.

“He was one of the last of the World War II veterans. When I was young, I always wanted to follow in my father’s footsteps, and so I went into the Navy too,” Podurgiel said.

Gold Star wife Juli West laid a wreath in honor of her late husband, Captain Jason West of the U.S. Army who was Killed in Action in Iraq. Teachers from Clayton Academy sponsored wreaths in honor of her family, so West, now a Pittsburgh Public Schools teacher, brought some of her students Friday morning.

“These kids get to learn. Some of them don’t even know about the military anymore. It’s kind of sad that the younger generation doesn’t have anyone to really look up to anymore, and we can show them that,” West said.

The ‘Wreaths Across America’ ceremony starts at noon on Saturday at the Cemetery of the Alleghenies.

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