Despite the high, cold wind at 9 a.m. on Saturday, 14 December 2024, the participants and crowd gathered at the Doughboy statue in Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Evergreen-Washelli in north Seattle for the 16th annual Wreaths Across America (WAA) ceremony. The wind chill was so bad that the emcee, Lorraine Zimmerman, cut her own speech from the program. She is President and Executive Director of the Veterans Memorial Wreaths Foundation (WMWF—please see http://www.vmwf.org).

My bugle call, “Assembly,” called the ceremony to order. The first major event, as always, was the placement of flags upon the 8 ceremonial wreaths by representatives of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines and POWs/MIAs. (Read more about the POW/MIA representative below.) Then the Honor Guard of VFW Post 1040 of Lynnwood fired a 21-gun salute (3 volleys).

The ceremony concluded with “Echo Taps.” I sounded the lead part and James D. (Jim) Kellett, Army Musician CWO2, did the “echo.” I used my Getzen field trumpet (bugle), and he used his Super Olds trumpet. [Recall that I own a Super Olds cornet.] He is a member of the VFW 1040 Honor Guard and regularly sounds “Taps” with the Rifle Team at funeral services for veterans at numerous cemeteries throughout the area.

The second main event is the placement of wreaths against selected headstones among the more than 5,000 graves of veterans within Evergreen-Washelli. Seven Medal of Honor recipients are buried there. Zimmerman asked the wreath-laying volunteers to read aloud the names on the headstones as they placed the wreaths and thank them for their service—they are not forgotten.

Similar ceremonies are being held this year at the same local time in more than 4,500 participating locations in all 50 states, at sea, and abroad. More than two million volunteers and supporters are involved (please see http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org).

Flag placement on POW/MIA Wreath

When the time came, Zimmerman called the POW/MIA representative to the podium to receive the flag that he would place on the POW/MIA wreath. As he stood before her, she read a brief description of his POW experience.

““Captain William W. Wilson, U.S. Air Force, is assisted by Cadet Martin Mugo, UW USAF ROTC.

“Captain Wilson, former prisoner during the Vietnam War, made 33 missions over North Vietnam and Laos, flying an F-111 Aardvark before being shot down while bombing the Red River docks in downtown Hanoi on 22 December 1972. He evaded capture for a week, was nearly rescued by a Super Jolly Green helicopter, and then was captured by the North Vietnamese on 29 December. He spent a month in the ‘Heartbreak’ section of the ‘Hanoi Hilton’ [Hoa Lo Prison, loosely meaning ‘hell’s hole’ or ‘fiery furnace’] before being moved to the ‘Zoo’ [facility near the village of Cu Loc].

“He returned to U.S. control on the last C-141A Starlifter out of Hanoi on 29 March 1973 during Operation Homecoming.

“Bill will now place a flag in honor of the more than 83,000 United States servicemen and women from all branches of the service whose last known status was either Prisoner of War or Missing in Action. These individuals have never returned to their families and homes. We will not forget you.”

After he placed the flag and rendered a slow hand salute, he turned and walked slowly back across the grass toward the crowd. From a distance, I rendered a hand salute to him, and as he stepped onto the paved road, the crowd broke into warm applause. Zimmerman later told me, “I was so proud when the crowd honored him so spontaneously.” Indeed, it was the highlight of this year’s ceremony. Please see the photos (below, by Phil Onishi) of Captain Wilson and Cadet Mugo.

Embouchure Troubles Are Subsiding Nicely

It was one year ago that I developed severe embouchure troubles for the first time in my life. Old age brought crooked teeth, to the point that my left front tooth had crossed over the right one just enough to disrupt the air flow into the mouthpiece of my horns. The problem flared up suddenly, right before last year’s WAA ceremony. I first alluded to it in my blog post of 10 June 2024, about the previous WAA ceremony. Then I wrote about it in more detail in my post of 12 June about my performance at The Bellettini retirement community in Bellevue. (Please use the Archives in the left column to find these articles, if you wish).

I had to go to the orthodontist for the solution: not braces, but Invisaligners (see http://www.invisalign.com). I wear them constantly, daily, except when eating. They have been gradually straightening my teeth since last February. Next spring, my teeth should be completely straight with the proper overbite—Oh, Happy Day!

But last May, after only four months, my teeth had straightened sufficiently that I was able to start performing again. My first public appearances were on Memorial Day when I performed at the ceremonies at Veterans Park in Lynnwood and in T-Mobile Park at the Seattle Mariners baseball game before a crowd of 24,000. Since then, on a reduced schedule, I have performed my one-hour trumpet shows at several retirement communities in the Greater Seattle area (scroll down this page). I’ll resume normal scheduling in 2025.

Photos Credits and Donations, Likes and Comments

Please click on any photo to enlarge it. All photos (except the one by me) are by Phil Onishi (please see https://philonishiphotography.smugmug.com). Mr. Onishi, long-time Band Director at Lynnwood High School, sang the National Anthem.

Donations are welcomed by both WAA and WMWF. I invite you to “Like” and “Comment” by clicking on the links below.