12/19/2025
Remember Me
While reflecting on a year of remembrance and unity, Wreaths Across America Executive Director Karen Worcester shares how moments of gratitude and personal insight inspired the new 2026 theme: “Remember Me.” Her message reminds us that behind every wreath lies a story—a name, a family, a sacrifice—and that our promise to remember keeps those stories alive for generations to come.
On behalf of the Wreaths Across America organization and our family of volunteers and supporters, THANK YOU. Thank you for supporting our mission to Remember the fallen, Honor those who serve, and Teach the next generation the value of freedom. Your commitment in 2025 has played a vital role in honoring our nation’s heroes and ensuring their service and sacrifice are never forgotten.
This year’s Wreaths Across America program reached an extraordinary milestone. Together, we served 5,598 participating locations, sponsored more than 3.1 million veterans’ wreaths, and mobilized millions of volunteers—nearly a third of them children—across all 50 states, and abroad. Each wreath placed was a powerful symbol of remembrance, respect and gratitude, made possible because of supporters like you.
I’ve spent time reflecting on this year’s theme, “Keep Moving Forward,” and I hope you will do just that in the year ahead. I hope you learned and shared the story of Capt. Joshua Byers, whose final words became both an inspiration and a call to action for volunteers and supporters in communities nationwide. Challenges will always exist, for us as individuals, as communities, and as a nation, but together, we must keep moving forward.
As we prepare to commemorate the 250th anniversary of our nation, Wreaths Across America has been entrusted with identifying a theme worthy of such a historic milestone. Our commitment has always been to remember, honor, and teach, and we work year-round to uphold that mission.
We often speak of “our service members” as though they are one unified group. Yet within that group are countless individuals, each with a name, a family, and a story that helped shape the freedoms we cherish today. While we honor them collectively, we can sometimes overlook the deeply personal sacrifices: the parent who never met a grandchild, the young recruit asked to shoulder more than any teenager should, the veteran who returned home carrying memories too heavy to share.
Last week, my 7-year-old grandson Josiah and I were curled up watching Home Alone 2 when a single line stopped me in my tracks. When Kevin tries to comfort the pigeon lady, he says, “Maybe they don’t forget about you, but they forget to remember you.”
A simple line.
A profound truth.
Individual stories matter. They teach us courage, resilience, and empathy. They remind us that our freedoms were not secured by faceless heroes, but by lives given, each one a thread in the fabric of our nation’s history. When we choose to remember their stories, we honor the past while shaping a future rooted in gratitude and understanding. We must also remember those we never had the privilege to know—those lost in distant wars, whose families are long gone, leaving only stone markers and silence behind.
From the first shots of the Revolutionary War to those serving this very moment, we must promise never to “forget to remember,” and answer the quiet plea of every fallen hero:
“Remember me.” In 2026, this will be our battle cry, and we will work together to ensure all those who served are remembered and their stories are told.
Thank you all for taking the time during this busy season to join us in letting veterans and military families know that their service and sacrifice are both seen and appreciated, and that they are not alone in their loss.
With gratitude,
Karen Worcester
