Book of Dreams: The gift of honor, these wreaths help us ‘remember our nation’s heroes’

Joanne English said her late father would be enormously proud of what she is aspiring to do this holiday season: place wreaths on his headstone and those of all 1,252 veterans buried at the Newcastle, Rocklin, Gold Hill and Ophir cemeteries in Placer County.

These wreaths are specially made by a Maine wreath-making family that spearheads a national day of remembrance, Wreaths Across America Day, set for Dec. 17. About 525 truckloads of wreaths will be delivered across the country in the next several weeks, and the Newcastle cemetery district, which includes the other Placer County sites, will be among the 3,600 communities ready to receive them.

The ceremonies across the country “will not just honor veterans’ service but will also be a way to teach younger generations the sacrifices made to protect America’s freedom through the decades,” English said. Other local communities participating in Wreaths Across America include several cemeteries from within the cities of Sacramento, Auburn and Dixon.

‘He was humble and quiet, but very patriotic’

English’s father, former Army Staff Sgt. John English, died at 86 and was buried at the Newcastle cemetery on Taylor Road, a 44-acre site of rolling hills dotted with large redwoods and oak trees. He rests among 890 other veterans there, according to Jeff Forrey, district manager of the four cemeteries. Another 341 veterans are interred in the Rocklin cemetery, 19 in Gold Hill and two in Ophir.

Sgt. English served during World War II in England, France, Germany and Belgium. He was awarded the good conduct, victory and European campaign participation medals, his daughter said.

“He was humble and quiet, but very patriotic,” she said. “He would have loved this. He instilled a sense of patriotism in me, and I will do it for the great love I have for him in the best possible way I can. He meant the world to me.”

Providing wreaths for all the veterans’ headstones in the cemetery district costs $12,000. Earlier this year, English began fundraising, but she needs an additional $8,000 to be confident that every veteran in the Newcastle, Rocklin cemetery district can be remembered.

Her effort to buy wreaths from the national organization Wreaths Across America is challenging, she said, because she is fundraising from scratch.

”Once the program has a foothold and the community is well aware, fundraising will be a bit easier,” she said. In this inaugural effort, she is hoping that Sacramento Bee readers will help out through the Book of Dreams program.

Newcastle cemetery history

The Newcastle cemetery goes back to the late 1800s, English said. Headstones there recognize veterans who served in World Wars I and II, and other conflicts that followed.

Ron Pontius, who runs the day-to-day operations in the Rocklin cemetery, said one veteran burial especially sticks with him.

In 2016, the cemetery was the site of the interment of an Army Vietnam veteran who won the Bronze Star medal for valor and the Purple Heart.

“His family told me he was shot three times, but still managed to drag five or six people who were almost mortally wounded,” Pontius said. “It turns out three of them were at the service when he was buried. It still gets to me when I think about it “

Pontius also recalled a family member telling him about Capt. Kenneth Regalado, a remarkable medic in the Vietnam War, who passed away in 2021.

“He was said to have been dropped off in the jungles of Vietnam by himself during that war to locate wounded soldiers,” he said. “He ended up saving thousands of lives because of a special field dressing he created.“

Wreaths Across America

Wreaths Across America, based in Maine, was founded as an expansion of a family’s effort to lay wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery. Karen Worcester, executive director, said the tribute evolved much the same way as English’s efforts.

“It was a simple desire by our family to lay wreaths on headstones,” she said.

The family had been involved in the wholesale evergreen balsam business and had some surplus balsam.

“My husband wanted to do something special with the wreaths. He asked if he could take them to Arlington National Cemetery so he could show our kids . It impacted the kids so much from that point forward as a family, we made special wreaths and did different sections of Arlington each year. On one occasion, a Pentagon photographer took a photo that went onto the Internet, and it immediately went viral.”

By 2006, Worcester said the family had received thousands of emails and calls from people wanting to do similar things in their communities.

“It gives everyone a chance to come together to not just remember our nation’s heroes and honor their service, but to teach the next generation about the sacrifices made in the name of freedom.” she said.

For every veteran’s gravestone

At the Newcastle ceremony, a member of the local Gruber family will place a wreath on the headstone of Marine veteran Barney Gruber, who passed away in 2019 at age 94.

He was in the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945, a conflict in which the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy captured the island from the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

“He was present when the famous picture was taken,“ his wife, Lois Gruber, said. She was referring to the picture showing six Marines from E Company raising the flag atop Mt. Suribachi. It was used to create the Marine Corps War Memorial sculpture located near Arlington National Cemetery.

Emceeing the inaugural Wreaths Across America ceremony in Newcastle will be retired U.S. Navy Adm. Bonnie Potter, a veteran of Desert Storm and Desert Shield, who also leads the Auburn ceremony each year.

“I was thrilled Joanne decided to pick up the cemetery in Newcastle,” Potter said. “There are three Gold Star family members I include every year in ceremonies on Memorial Day because their sons are buried at Newcastle and were killed on active duty.“

Another veteran she calls out is a Marine “who was killed defending patrons in an establishment in North Carolina after he retired,” she said.

The Wreaths Across America event at Newcastle will be held at 11 a.m. on Dec. 17, and English hopes with Book of Dreams help, she can make sure no veteran’s gravestone is missed.

Book of Dreams

The request: A local group is seeking $8,000 to buy wreaths to be placed on the headstones of all veterans buried at Newcastle, Rocklin, Gold Hill and Ophir cemeteries for a national day of remembrance on Dec. 17.

How to help: You can make a donation at sacbee.com/bookofdreams.

This story was originally published December 2, 2022 at 5:00 AM.