MANDAN, N.D. (KFYR) – For people like Kevin Iverson, showing appreciation for our nation’s veterans isn’t limited to Veterans Day. Since 2007, he has volunteered with the Wreaths Across America organization. This program ensures that once a year, deceased veterans receive a wreath on their headstone.

Kevin Iverson, a retired lieutenant colonel and coordinator of Wreaths Across America, began volunteering with the nonprofit organization when volunteers in 2006 asked him to lend a hand. He had been in the Army and National Guard, but said the reason he makes sure wreaths are laid each year is the impact it has on friends and families of veterans missing fighters.

“A few years ago I came here on Christmas Day – actually I came here to make sure all the wreaths were up because the wind tends to knock them over – and I saw 70 people here. Entire families would show up around a headstone, toasting, recognizing a service member buried here,” Iverson said.

Every year, Iverson, other volunteers and members of the Civil Air Patrol come to the Mandan Veterans Cemetery to help distribute wreaths.

Iverson said the number of people has increased significantly since 2006. In 2006, volunteers laid eight wreaths. Today, it’s thousands of people, and volunteers like Iverson make it possible. He said usually about 600 to 1,500 people come to the cemetery.

“It’s amazing to see every year. It doesn’t matter if it’s 30 above or 30 below, they appear. It doesn’t matter if there’s eight feet of snow and whether the headstones are covered or not, they show up,” said Pamela Helbling-Schafer, director of the Mandan Veterans Cemetery.

Iverson said the public also helps ensure every headstone receives a wreath. He quoted two winters ago.

“We had volunteers shovel four feet of snow just to get to the top of the headstone, then dig the rest of the way so we could lay the wreath in front of the headstone. That’s how dedicated the public is to this,” Iverson said.

Iverson said that sometimes family members send notes to volunteers explaining how much his and other volunteers’ efforts mean to them. From working behind the scenes to coordinate donations and deliveries to handing out wreaths, it all counts.

Wreaths Across America Day will take place on December 14 this year. Iverson suggests arriving early at the Veterans Cemetery due to limited parking. He also said they still need help purchasing wreaths; they cost $17 each and they need about $3,000 more to cover the entire cemetery.

You can find out more here.

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