Wreaths Across America honors veterans at Fort Mitchell National Cemetery

More than 400 people visited Fort Mitchell National Cemetery Saturday for the ninth annual Wreaths Across America ceremony to remember fallen veterans.

Hosted by the Auburn Composite Squadron, Civil Air Patrol and the Department of Veterans Affairs at the cemetery, similar wreath laying events were held at national cemeteries across the country. While only 243 wreaths were available, Lt. Col. Chris Tate of the Civil Air Patrol said an effort would be made to get enough wreaths for more than 9,000 buried at Fort Mitchell.

"Every single year, we will come through and we will get them out," Tate said as families and supporters waved small flags.

Tate reminded the crowd that while America is a free society with people from many walks of life, freedom does not come without a price. "Lying here before us and cemeteries across the nation are men and women who gave their life so we don't live in fear," he said.

Tate didn't mention the recent massacre of employees at a San Bernadino office party but said fear-mongering terrorists are a fact of life.

"We must find comfort that we are a target because of the things we hold most dear," he said.

He asked what can be done for those who are resting at the cemetery, and then he gave the answer: People need to remember their service, honor it and teach young people about the cost of freedom. "That very freedom is under attack every day," he said.

Guest speaker for the event was retired Col. David Moore, who served in Operation Just Cause in

Panama, Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield and Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom before he retired in 2011.

Moore recalled how Pvt. James A. Taber Jr. died two days after his 82nd Airborne Division was part of the operation in Panama in 1989. "I thought about his parents and family who were notified on the eve of Christmas," he said of the solder's death. Taber trained at Fort Benning.

Moore also focused on the sacrifices families go through while spouses are deployed.

After the ceremony, Hilda Bozzelli of Phenix City was among the first to get a wreath for her late husband, Marine Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Bozzelli, who died in 2011. He saw action during World War II and Korea and was still serving during the Vietnam War but wasn't deployed.

"This is the first time I've stayed for the ceremony," she said. "I come out and I always order a wreath for him."

Anyone who wants to support wreaths for 2016 may call 877-385-9504 and state that it's for Fort Mitchell. Giving online is available at give.wreathsacrossamerica.org

This story was originally published December 12, 2015 at 9:17 PM with the headline "Wreaths Across America honors veterans at Fort Mitchell National Cemetery."