A Holiday Tradition To Honor The Fallen

Williams thought of his own son during the journey. "He wanted to jump out of perfectly good airplanes," Williams said of his son, who is in the 10th Mountain Division and aims to join the Army's Special Forces.

He tries to take a pragmatic view of his son's tour in Iraq: It is what soldiers do, and the odds of him being killed, compared with the number of troops deployed, are at least mathematically low.

In Section 60, though, were stark reminders of what could happen. Row after row filled up with wreaths, simple green circles of balsam fir with rich red bows.

Taking it all in and leaning on crutches was Army Sgt. 1st Class Patrick King, whose left foot and ankle were blown off when a makeshift bomb exploded near his Humvee in Iraq on Oct. 20. Since then, he has been at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, rehabilitating and learning how to use his artificial leg.

"This is just outstanding," he said, looking at the people walking about with wreaths.

To his left, a long row of graves away, Pat Mackin sat alone near her son's grave, quietly sobbing. Navy Seal Mike McGreevy died on a rescue mission in Afghanistan two years ago. There was a wreath on his tombstone.

Suddenly, a contingent of more than three dozen schoolchildren, chaperons and a teacher arrived -- from Maine. The teacher, Larry Ross, has made a point to teach his students about such veterans as McGreevy.

Before she left, Mackin and her son's widow placed a brownie atop his tombstone, as they always do. They then gave some brownies to the group that had come so far to meet them.