DEFIANCE, OH-For the sixth consecutive year, Thomas E. Keller Trucking was among hundreds of trucking companies helping to deliver thousands of wreaths to cemeteries to be placed on the graves of military veterans for the holiday season. To date, there are more than 2,100 participating locations receiving wreaths.
Each year, a Keller Trucking driver that is also a military veteran makes the run to supply several cemeteries with wreaths that have been sponsored by businesses and individuals. This year, Matt Chapman picked up 4,689 wreaths in Columbia Falls, Maine and made a delivery to New Cumberland, West Virginia, followed by stops in Oregon, Millbury, Pemberville, Napoleon, Montpelier, Bryan, Paulding, Sidney, Van Wert, and Edon, all in Ohio.
Driver Matt Chapman expressed that he was proud to be part of it all and was impressed with how much respect Wreaths Across America shows veterans, as they had coffee and a hot meal waiting for him when he arrived to pick up the wreaths in Maine.
The project started in 1992 with volunteers laying wreaths at the graves of fallen soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery during the holiday season with the mission to Remember – Honor – and Teach.