UPDATE: Arlington National Cemetery has reversed course and has decided to allow the laying of the wreathes on the graves of soldiers.

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Original story follows below

 

According to WABI TV 5, the longstanding annual trip of Wreaths Across America has been cancelled by Arlington National Cemetery. On Monday the National Cemetery made an announcement that they would not be allowing the placement of wreaths on the graves of veterans this year due to the ongoing COVID crisis.

While Arlington is not the only cemetery where Wreaths Across America delivers wreaths to veterans graves, it's certainly one of the largest and most notable. Despite the major setback, Wreaths Across America still plans to make their deliveries to more than 2400 other participating cemeteries across the United States of America.

The decision from Arlington National Cemetery wasn't one that was made lightly and, according to Karen Durham-Aguilera, executive director of Army National Cemeteries, including Arlington,

“We did not make this decision lightly. Despite the controls developed to disperse potential crowds in time and space, and required personal safety protocols, we determined that hosting any event of this scale risked compromising our ability to accomplish our core mission of laying veterans and their eligible family members to rest,”

If you or someone you know would like to make a contribution or find out how you can help the Maine-based mission of Wreaths Across America, you can visit their website for more information and ways to give back by clicking here.

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